Recent reports have stated that the United States is seeking China's support for more stringent sanctions against Iran, principally in the form of ceasing its purchases of Iranian oil. But China has no reason to blindly give such support, and will surely not stop buying oil from Iran.

An Iranian oil refinery [File?photo]

It was, after all, a U.S. decision to step up economic sanctions against Iran, not a UN resolution, and the U.S. does not represent the entire international community.

In 1984, not long after the 1979-1981 sanctions against Iran had come to an end, the U.S. slapped a new round of comprehensive economic sanctions on Iran. These sanctions are still in place today.

As an independent sovereign state, China will not blindly follow the U.S. It would only accept a stepping up of sanctions if a UN resolution is reached on the matter. All economic and trade relations between China and Iran are legal according to international norms.

China's foreign policy seeks peace and development, hoping to safeguard world peace and create favorable conditions for the economic development of both the country and the world. Tightening sanctions against Iran will only fuel tensions in the Gulf region, heighten the risk of war and bring more uncertainties to the world economy which is currently facing the threat of the sovereign debt crisis and the new challenges facing emerging economies. As a responsible member of the international community, China should not embark on any course of action which would exacerbate an already difficult situation.

As a country which has made a habit of imposing economic sanctions since they were adopted as a punitive measure, initially by the League of Nations after WWI and then by the UN after WWII, the U.S. needs to reflect on whether or not it has misused this measure.

Of the 116 international economic sanctions imposed between 1941 and1990, 77 were led by the United States. A further 80 sanctions were imposed from the end of the cold war to 2007. The U.S. got involved in more than 60 of those sanctions, which affected more than half of the world's population.

Getting involved in sanctions against Iran will greatly undermine China's economic and strategic interests. With regard to economic interests, Iran is an important source of Chinese oil imports and an important market for Chinese consumer goods, capital and equipment exports and overseas project contracts. Trade between these two countries reached US$29.4 billion in 2010 and jumped to US$41 billion in the first 11 months of 2011, representing a 55.8 percent increase.

On the subject of oil, the question is: From where should China import its oil if it ceases oil imports from Iran? Even if other countries and oil companies could supply its oil, China does not want to see the increased monopoly which would be the result of such a step, as well as a hike in the price of oil on the global market.

Contrary to U.S. claims, we have seen that previous economic sanctions have rarely achieved their stated goals. They have, in stark contrast, caused serious humanitarian disasters.

After the cold war, with the U.S. taking the lead, the UN passed a resolution which imposed economic sanctions on Iraq. The result was that the Iraqi people suffered a humanitarian catastrophe thanks to these economic sanctions: Their per capita income fell from US$4,000 in 1989 to less than US$300 in 2000; The country was forced to abolish its system of free education which had been in existence for more than 30 years; and 1.732 million people, more than half of whom were children, died due to malnutrition and a lack of medicine.

The U.S. also imposed a trade embargo on the newly founded People's Republic of China, which remained in place until President Nixon paid a visit to China in 1972. As a result, China, being fully aware of the humanitarian suffering caused by sanctions, will not allow such suffering to be inflicted on the people of other countries.

(This article was first published in Chinese and translated by Zhang Ming'ai.)

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