Beijing wants to make it clear it has key allies amid tensions between China and the US over the balloon crisis. After a three-day visit by Iranian President Embrahim Raisí to Beijing, during which he met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, among others, the two heads of state reaffirmed their intention to “establish a close strategic relationship”. and they have called for the sanctions imposed on Iran to be lifted while negotiations on the denuclearization agreement remain deadlocked.
President Xi has also officially accepted an invitation to travel to Iran, according to a statement from both countries; most recently in 2016. Beijing seems to have a strategic region in its sights. In December, the Chinese leader visited Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival, in one of his first foreign trips after three years of the pandemic, to deepen ties and keep an eye on the abundant hydrocarbons. The Middle East is one of those key areas for Beijing in its ambitious New Silk Road project, launched almost a decade ago, with which the Asian giant is trying to get closer to the rest of the world primarily through infrastructure programs.
Xi and Raisi have jointly denounced Washington’s unilateral abandonment of the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iranian nuclear deal signed in 2015 by several countries – China, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, France and Germany – in addition to the EU, and that forced Tehran to drastically cut its nuclear program in exchange for economic stimulus.
In 2018, with Donald Trump in the White House, the United States abandoned the plan and decided to reimpose sanctions on Iran. Since then, the parties, coordinated by the European Union, have been trying to revive the agreement, but so far without success. “All relevant sanctions must be fully and verifiably lifted, and the JCPOA must be fully and effectively applied,” Beijing and Tehran have demanded.
Rejection of the western vision of human rights
Both countries believe there are several links between them, such as their rejection of the Western vision of human rights. This is a sensitive issue in China, particularly over the treatment of the Uyghur minority (the UN believes Beijing may have committed crimes against humanity in its repression), and also in Iran, where the NGO Iran Humab Rights estimates nearly 500 Deaths in the crackdown on demonstrations against the ayatollahs’ regime that have shaken the country in recent months.
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Both believe in a different perspective: “When it comes to human rights, both sides have pointed out that different countries have different national conditions, historical cultures, social systems and levels of economic and social development,” he says. the notice.
The Iranian’s visit coincides with the foothills of the storm that has been raging between the United States and China since early February over the aerostatic skirmish. The government of the Asian superpower decided on Thursday to impose sanctions on the US arms companies Lockheed Martin Corporation and Raytheon Missiles & Defense for “participation in arms sales to Taiwan”. [la isla autogobernada que Pekín reclama como propia y a la que Estados Unidos confiere apoyo militar]’ the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
The penalties imposed by the Asian power come in response to the previous move by the United States last week, which decided to blacklist five companies and a Chinese research institute that Washington says has military programs related to aeronautics and balloons supported surveillance and reconnaissance.
Beijing’s sanction, imposed to “protect national sovereignty” and “security,” according to the statement, means both companies will be banned from conducting any import or export activities in mainland China. They will also not be able to make new investments in the country, executives of both will be banned from entering Chinese territory and will be fined, the note added.
The crisis began in early February with the discovery of a Chinese stratospheric balloon over US territory. Washington accused Beijing of using it for espionage and shot it down, although China claimed it was an unmanned aircraft intended “mainly for meteorological research” and lost its route. For its part, the Chinese government has accused the United States of having used similar devices to cross its airspace at least 10 times without authorization in the past year.
The incident forced the postponement of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s February 5-6 visit to Beijing. It also expected a meeting with Wang Yi, head of Chinese diplomacy at the head of the Communist Party’s foreign affairs organ. Wang is currently visiting Europe, where he plans to visit France, Italy, Hungary and Russia. Both are scheduled to attend the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
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