A week before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s scheduled meeting with US President George W Bush (later canceled due to Hurricane Katrina), on the fringes of the United Nations summit in New York, Washington warned Beijing that the two countries would be on a collision course if China continues to pursue energy deals in countries like Iran and Sudan. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick warned that Beijing’s ties with “troublesome” states such as Burma and Zimbabwe were “going to have repercussions elsewhere” and the Chinese would have to decide if they wanted to pay the price.
China must choose whether it wants to work with the US to ameliorate problems posed by these states (while still protecting Beijing’s energy interests) or whether “it wanted to be against us and others in the international system as well”, Zoellick was quoted telling reporters in Washington.
See also: “Oil focus shifting to Xinjiang” also from Asia Times.
