Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao leaves for the Middle East Saturday on a trip to key oil-producing nations, as rising tensions over Iran's nuclear programme spark fears of major oil supply disruptions.
Wen will first travel to Saudi Arabia -- the largest provider of oil to energy-hungry China -- over the weekend, before going to the United Arab Emirates on Monday and then on to Qatar on January 19.
His trip comes as tensions rise over the assassination of a nuclear scientist in oil-rich Iran and new US sanctions on Tehran that have triggered warnings of potential military escalation in the region.
"Every country, including the Chinese -- given the ratcheting up of pressure in the Persian Gulf and uncertainty over Iran - are looking at contingency plans," said Patrick Chovanec, associate professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University.
"They're looking at lining up alternative sources (of oil) in case there are disruptions."
Wen will hold talks with leaders of the three Arab nations and attend the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
China -- under pressure to secure the energy supplies it needs to keep its economy going -- imported 232 million tonnes of crude oil in the first 11 months of last year, a 6.1 percent rise from the same period in 2010, according to customs data.
Saudi Arabia is its largest provider of oil and Iran the third. Qatar and the UAE, although both major oil-producing states, do not yet figure among the top 10 oil exporters to China.
The visit comes days after Wen met with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was in Beijing to drum up support for the new US sanctions that aim to squeeze Iran's crucial oil revenues.
The measures bar any foreign banks that do business with Iran's central bank -- responsible for processing most oil purchases in the Islamic republic -- from US financial markets.
But China, which relies on Iran for 11 percent of its oil imports, opposes the sanctions on the Islamic Republic, which Washington and other nations accuse of developing nuclear weapons -- a claim denied by Tehran.
Shi Yinhong, a political expert at Beijing's Renmin University, said the tense situation over Iran poses a "potential threat" for China's energy supply from the Middle East.
"During the visit, China wants to ask the three countries to do more to increase opportunities of peacefully resolving the Iran... issue," he said.
Zhai Jun, vice foreign minister, said earlier this week that oil and energy cooperation was not the only topic that would be discussed on Wen's trip, adding recent upheaval in the Middle East would also be on the agenda.
"The Arab Spring (unrest) has unsettled the Chinese leadership, and they don't quite know what to make of it or how to react to it, and the Saudis are in the same situation," Chovanec said.
No comments:
Post a Comment