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February 22, 2006

Let’s Talk About the Axis of Oil

Iran & China: close as teeth and gums

 

 

According to an article Monday in the World Tribune Iran and China are talking about a “major energy deal that would involve the swap of oil for technology.”

 

This helps to further flesh-out why China has been dragging its feet on the idea of economic sanctions’ talks to prevent Tehran from furthering its nuclear arms program, as many, even the Washington Post pointed out several months ago.

 

Both articles cite diplomatic sources from the West or others who claim the deal could turn Iran into the biggest supplier of oil to China worth more than $100 billion. It would also free China of concerns about Russian oil and would of necessity at the moment place her in strategic opposition to Israel (well, aside from the fact Israel is one of those democracies the butchers of Beijing love to hate).

 

Though many have been aware of a long-standing Sino-Iranian relationship, the article mentions the managing director of Iran’s leading petrochemical company Petropars, who credits China for being a major player in developing Iranian energy to this point. Petropars' director also “called for the transfer of Chinese technology” and “cited China’s growing demand for oil” as reasons for a longstanding good relationship, and he’s right: Iran needs CCP (Chinese Communist Party) China and CCP China needs Iran.

 

So we shouldn’t be fooling ourselves into thinking this will change any time soon. Nor should we fool ourselves into thinking it has been any different in the somewhat recent past.

 

As I stated back in August 2003,

 

U.S. Strategy.com reported in July that China was working with North Korea to bolster Iran's nuclear arms program by selling arms and providing advisors to the country. I would imagine it is fairly safe to say the Chinese and North Koreans would not be selling nuclear technology to anyone they thought would use it against them, so that means those weapons are most likely to be pointed in a direction North Korea approves of. Possibly where China has its missiles aimed too: The U.S. and her interests.

 

Then there's that Washington Post article I mentioned earlier, which provides a few things to think about:

 

Beijing has also provided Iran with advanced military technology, including missile technology, U.S. officials say. In April, the Bush administration imposed sanctions on Chinese manufacturers of equipment that can be used to develop weapons of mass destruction.

 

And there’s some indication Iran is allowing China to set up strategic information-gathering positions near the Iraqi border (as they no doubt have done near Afghanistan).

 

But it’s not just a love affair between China and Iran. When one looks out on the broad spectrum of relationships in the region one sees the following patterns emerge:

 

North Korea and Iran

China and Iran

Iran and Syria

Iran and Hamas/PA (Palestinian Authority)/Hezbollah

PA and Egypt

PA and Libya

Libya and Egypt

Egypt and Pakistan

Libya and Pakistan

Pakistan and China

China and North Korea

 

These along with other countries are part of what I call the Axis of Oil. Each of these countries has been involved in either swapping arms, nuclear technology, or other assets, or all three over the course of the past several years. Not to mention Hamas, PA, Hezbollah, Iranian and other al Qaeda connections.

 

China’s dictator Hu no doubt is as happy as Hitler over the deal that will provide what every outward-looking dictatorship needs in the mechanized age: fields and fields of the black stuff; and Iran will get what it needs to further terrorize the middle east and beyond. According to that WAPO article: “China has become a major exporter of manufactured goods to Iran, including computer systems, household appliances and cars.” That and all the high technology China acquired from the US under Sandy Burger’s watch in the Clinton years, and even today. Since there is no doubt that China’s international businesses are fronts for its military, there’s also no doubt about its purpose in establishing bonds with what we consider the more formally recognized rogue states.

 

A good economic relationship between the two countries is the same as a good military one and will help bolster the two countries’ collective strategic aims and abilities, along with those of their international partners.

 

Not to sound like a broken record, but none of this is new; however, it is time we started seriously sitting up and taking notice.

 

 

RELATED: Atlas Shrugs blog (credit for the above image) has a posted good amount of valuable links and quotes on this topic.

 

 

Posted by Martin at February 22, 2006 03:25 PM

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