3 September 2010 / REUTERS, BEIJING
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Thursday she had pressed China to ensure that Chinese companies did not fill the void left by other firms leaving Iran due to UN sanctions.
US officials said in July that Chinese companies had been pursuing trade with Iran despite the threat of US sanctions and a June United Nations Security Council resolution imposing more punitive measures on Tehran over its nuclear program. Robert Einhorn, special adviser for non-proliferation and arms control at the US State Department, said at the time that China should not “backfill” by doing more deals with Iran while “responsible countries are distancing themselves from Iran.” Ashton, speaking to reporters at the end of an official visit to China, said she told Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that observing sanctions placed on Iran was vital. “We expected that we would all work together in a way that would be effective but that we would stand together,” she said. “My message was meant to be very clear -- that we would expect that we wouldn’t see ‘backfill’.”
