by Siyabonga Ntshingila ;

While US Vice-President will no doubt come under immense pressure from Israel to step up sanctions against Iran, China’s special envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, has re-iterated that China will continue to oppose sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking to Chinese media yesterday, Sike re-iterated Beijing’s view that stringent sanctions against Tehran would only serve to steel their resolve and further polarise both sides in the debate.

Sike also took umbrage at suggestions that China’s stance was driven by its dependence on Iranian oil, pointing out that only 11% of the Asian state’s oil imports came from Iran. Wu asserted that there will be a point with sanctions where Iran feels there is no incentive for “turning back” and this could drive it into disregarding any international treaties on nuclear weapons.

Sike pointed out that China would not support Iran developing nuclear arms, but will stand firmly in their corner so long as their nuclear ambitions were limited to peaceful purposes such as power generation and research. He re-affirmed that China would hold Iran accountable to the Non-Proliferation Treaty as it is a signatory.