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China's president Hu Jintao has called for closer ties with Iran while meeting his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the first time.
President Hu gave Mr Ahmadinejad a warm welcome, saying he hoped they would have many opportunities to take the relationship between China and Iran to the next level.
China and Iran have long had close economic ties, especially in the oil and gas fields, and are currently in negotiations over an energy deal that could be worth more than $US100 billion.
Mr Ahmadinejad arrived in China on Wednesday to participate in the leaders' summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional forum that is increasingly being seen as a counterweight to US influence in Central Asia.
The SCO groups China and Russia with the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia, are observer nations.
Mr Ahmadinejad's invitation to China for the summit drew criticism from the United States, which accuses Iran of being the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism.
His talks with president Hu and Russian President Vladimir Putin come at a crucial stage in the stand-off over Iran's nuclear program, with Tehran remaining non-committal over an international incentives package aimed at enticing it to suspend uranian enrichment.
Said1 said:Who thinks China is becoming freer?
rtwngAvngr said:The neocons tell us that trading with them will eventually result in them becoming freer.
Said1 said:I don't know. Maybe In the industrial zones.
rtwngAvngr said:They are not more free. They simply have more stuff for the time being. Materialism is not equal to freedom.
Said1 said:I really have no idea. I've never been to China.
I'd say they're freer in rural areas, now that I think about, maybe not.
I hope I don't have to make any serious decisions today. I appear to be suffering from 'fencesitteritis'.
rtwngAvngr said:It's spreading faster than bird flu!
Article 1. The People's Republic of China is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The socialist system is the basic system of the People's Republic of China. Sabotage of the socialist system by any organization or individual is prohibited.
Article 40. The freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens of the People's Republic of China are protected by law. No organization or individual may, on any ground, infringe upon the freedom and privacy of citizens' correspondence except in cases where, to meet the needs of state security or of investigation into criminal offences, public security or procuratorial organs are permitted to censor correspondence in accordance with procedures prescribed by law.
Article 53. Citizens of the People's Republic of China must abide by the constitution and the law, keep state secrets, protect public property and observe labour discipline and public order and respect social ethics.
rtwngAvngr said:Still think china is planning on becoming a free nation? Still believe they're our friends? Still think we should keep enabling them with billions of dollars?
http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific_stories_1665193.htm
dilloduck said:Do we have a choice ?
Said1 said:There are rumours of my government giving China billions in aid, only to have them turn around and invest heavily in the development of the tar sands in Northern Alberta. Which is exactly what they did, so I don't really know why it's a secret, but it is, so shhhhhhh.
rtwngAvngr said:They don't want people to really wake up to what's going on.
One word: oil.rtwngAvngr said:Still think china is planning on becoming a free nation? Still believe they're our friends? Still think we should keep enabling them with billions of dollars?
http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stori...es_1665193.htm
So... wrong... in so many ways... I just... don't know.... where to start.... except.... to say.... it burns.Said1 said:Our country is too poor to extract huge amounts of oil out of the ground, but can give China billions to invest here.
Mr.Conley said:One word: oil.
So... wrong... in so many ways... I just... don't know.... where to start.... except.... to say.... it burns.
China eyeing investment in Alberta oil sands
PATRICK BRETHOUR AND DAWN WALTON -
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
CALGARY -- Sinopec Corp., the giant Chinese energy company, is eyeing a major investment in Alberta's oil sands -- perhaps even its own project -- as it pushes to secure supplies for its booming home market.
That push comes even as the United States increasingly looks to the oil sands as a secure source of supply for its own uses, with terrorism and other geopolitical upheaval threatening conventional oil production overseas.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said officials with Sinopec, which is majority-owned by the government of China but trades as a public company, have toured the oil sands since his own June trip to Beijing. "I met with them in Beijing and true to their word they came over to examine the potential of investing in the tar sands. We encourage their investment," Mr. Klein said in comments to reporters at the end of the Banff Global Business Forum.
That investment could run into the billions if, as Mr. Klein said is a possibility, the Chinese company opts to set up a standalone venture. "What they're talking about is either joint-venturing with an existing oil sands developer or acquiring a new lease."
Sinopec could not be reached for comment.
At the same time, Canadian Oil Sands Trust is continuing to talk to another Chinese state firm, PetroChina, about a long-term agreement to buy synthetic crude from the Syncrude joint venture in which the trust is the largest shareholder. Spokeswoman Siren Fisekci said no agreement has been struck, but noted her firm plans to send trial shipments of its synthetic crude to PetroChina so it can gauge its refineries' abilities to process the oil.
Large-scale projects to mine bitumen from the oil sands and process it into synthetic crude are multibillion-dollar investments; smaller operations using subterranean steam to melt bitumen and pump it to the surface are less costly, but still run into the hundreds of millions.
Aside from the trade benefits, Canada's oil sector is also attracting new investment. Through the late 1990s, total investment was just over (U.S.) $6.3 million. However, over the last two years, investment has climbed to almost $30 million. During Martin's visit last month to Asia, Canada and China signed framework agreements to facilitate Chinese investment in Canada's oil sands. China's two largest oil groups, Sinopec and the China National Petroleum Corporation, are considering purchasing significant shares in several Canadian oil firms with licenses to operate in Alberta's tar sands, including UTS Energy and Canadian Oil Sands Trust. Chinese firms are also considering investments in related infrastructure. A Chinese firm is considering a 49% stake in a $2 billion, 720-mile pipeline planned between northern Alberta and the northwest coast of British Columbia. These and other possible deals are valued at some $2 billion to $3 billion dollars
Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief
National Post, Tue 06 Apr 2004
OTTAWA - Opposition critics demanded yesterday that Ottawa scale back the
amount
of foreign aid it sends to China, a country that ranks as the fourth-largest
beneficiary of Canadian aid even though it has put an astronaut in space and
spends billions every year building an advanced military machine.
Figures for Canada's Official Development Assistance show China received
$65.4-million in aid behind India, Bangladesh and Cameroon, which ranks
first at
$96.2-million. Vietnam, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Afghanistan follow closely
behind
China.
China actually ranks second behind Bangladesh on the list of the 30 major
recipients of Canada's $2.9-billion annual foreign aid budget, when debt
relief
