China Refuses to Sanction Iran

On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry slammed America’s attempt to constrain Iran’s oil industry. A spokesman has said that the measure would include sanctioning Chinese banks that help Iran, and that China will not comply.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that China is “always opposed” when a country “enforces its domestic law on other countries.” He also characterized unilateral sanctions on other countries as a function of America’s “domestic law” and said China will not accept the enforcement of unilateral sanctions.

Hong was responding to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton said on March 21 that Washington will temporarily exempt 11 countries from its hard-hitting new sanctions against Iran, because these nations have “significantly” cut Iranian oil imports. China was not on the list, which means it has until the end of July to reduce oil imports from Iran or else face U.S. sanctions.

In 2011, China bought more than 557,000 barrels of Iranian crude every day, making it one of the Islamic Republic’s largest customers. China’s large volumes of trade with Iran mean that Beijing’s defiance will dramatically dull the point of America’s diplomatic attack.

The Trumpet continues to forecast that sanctions will not neutralize Iran’s nuclear threat. With uncooperative and increasingly powerful countries like China defying Washington, that reality becomes clearer all the time.