Trump and China: Trump to meet Xi at G20 - is Iran on the agenda? Will China back Iran?
DONALD TRUMP will meet China’s leader Xi Jinping on Saturday at the G20 summit in a bid to resume US-China trade negotiations - but will Iran be on the agenda and will China back Iran if a war erupts?
Donald Trump signs executive order imposing sanctions on Iran
Washington and Beijing have been locked in a bitter trade war for almost a year but there is the hope of a possible resolution this weekend. US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will meet at the G20 Summit in Japan in a bid to commit to a new trading agreement. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC today the USA and China “were about 90 percent of the way there”. But while there is hope of one US dispute ending, another one continues to loom large on the world stage.
Tensions between the US and Iran are at fever pitch after Tehran shot down a US drone last week.
China is a long-term ally of Iran’s and has pledged economic allegiance to it over past decades in a united front against Washington.
Is Iran on the agenda? Will China back Iran against US?
Although the US has spun a message of positivity for the G20 summit, its trade talks with China could be undermined by its conflict with Iran.
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One political expert says Tehran will be pushing Beijing to support it “politically and strategically” in Osaka, as reported by South China Morning Post.
Mohsen Shariatinia, an assistant professor of international relations at the Shahid Beheshti National University in Tehran, told the publication: “Iran would like China to address the Iranian security and economic issues at [this week’s] Group of 20 summit in Osaka.
“The tension Iran is facing right now is the highest level in the last decade … Iran wants Beijing to politically and strategically support Tehran.”
Iran relies on China as its biggest exporter of oil and has been hit hard by US sanctions on its exports.
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The US reintroduced the sanctions after pulling out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The deal offered Iran a reprieve from economic sanctions in return for its cooperation on curbing its nuclear activities and allowing international inspectors site access.
China is now positioning itself as a key player in negotiations with world powers to save the nuclear deal.
Iran threatened to step away from it on Monday.
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Mr Shariatinia said: “China is the only country that clearly defies sanctions against Iran, and explicitly said it would continue its political and economic ties with Iran.
“It also supported Iran in the UN Security Council. Iran appreciates China’s support.”
White House officials have not commented publicly on whether Iran will be on the table between the two presidents this weekend.
But Mr Mnuchin said separately he believed the sanctions “are working”.