Beating Iran Beats the CCP

Udumbara Udumbara
Jun 20, 2025 - 10:06 Updated: Jun 20, 2025 - 09:49
0
Beating Iran Beats the CCP

.

Commentary

The new axis of evil—led by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea in that order—has been tag-teaming democracy for a long time. While Iran and Russia are killing people in Israel and Ukraine, the regime in Beijing is readying to do the same in Taiwan.

So the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to see Iran and Russia succeed. Their success would chasten the world’s democracies and pave the way for the People’s Liberation Army’s crossing of the Taiwan Strait.

To that and other such ends, China and Iran have close military, diplomatic, and economic ties. The CCP supports Iran rather than Israel by consistently blaming the latter for the fight, even though Iran started it by arming and training its proxies, whose most recent round of attacks on Israel began on Oct. 7, 2023. It was the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, and the CCP failed to blame the Hamas terrorists’ sponsors in Tehran. Militarily, the regime in Beijing provides Iran with the components necessary to build its missiles and drones.

Now that Israel is getting the upper hand, suddenly the CCP is stridently calling for “de-escalation.” This is unlikely until Iran’s nuclear program is fully dismantled. It might require Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” as President Donald Trump demanded, or a regime change, as proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

That the CCP is not now doing more for Iran, such as sending in troops, is a demonstration of the weakness of the axis. The United States and the United Kingdom have sent military hardware, including naval ships and jet fighters, as well as the personnel needed to help defend Israel from incoming missiles. Instead, the CCP sends words that have little utility in war. The joint Iranian, Chinese, and Russian naval exercises of March are forgotten in Moscow and Beijing, as both capitals avert their gaze from a partner in need.
In economic terms, the CCP is profiting handsomely off Iran’s status as an international pariah. Beijing has been down this lucrative road before, including with Russia, Burma (Myanmar), Venezuela, and North Korea, all of which are forced by Western sanctions to sell to China at a discount. Almost nobody but small Chinese “teapot” refiners will now buy sanctioned Iranian oil. China’s large state-owned oil companies avoid it for fear of being cut out of the global financial system.

The oil is shipped on shadow tankers with their transponders off, and goes for discounts of between $2 and $11 on a similar-grade barrel of Oman Export Blend. At 1.7 million barrels of Iranian oil exports per day, 90 percent of which go to China, that adds up to as much as $6 billion in savings for China per year. The Chinese regime pays for the oil in yuan, which must then return to China in exchange for Chinese exports. It’s a win-win for Beijing and the CCP, but not for Iran. Some Iranian analysts consider the relationship to be a form of neocolonialism. It’s closer to neoimperialism.

China’s total exports to Iran are $10 billion, with Iran exporting nearly $4.6 billion back to China (not including its shadow oil exports). The trade surplus in favor of China is more than $5 billion. That’s $5 billion in lost jobs for the desperate Iranian people. China’s major imports from Iran, in addition to oil, are ethylene polymers, iron ore, and refined copper.

As China’s economy slows down, including its construction and consumer sectors, its need for these imports will decrease. Plus, there are plenty of alternative suppliers around the world. That puts the Iranian mullahs in a tough spot. They have few friends, little money, and their weapons are being destroyed by Israeli airstrikes every day.

The axis is creating so much global confusion, violence, and fear that many isolationists in the United States, Europe, and Japan would prefer to watch them all fight it out, rather than get involved. That Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine are fellow democracies presents an ethical issue for those wanting to leave them out in the cold. Sitting on the sidelines has other moral risks.

If the axis wins against Israel, for example, it could in the future use its conquests against the United States and our Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia. That would destroy the perception of strength that helps the United States stay ascendant in the world. It would increase the price of gas in the United States and hurt our economic growth. Strengthening one of the axis powers by giving in strengthens the rest. While they get stronger, the United States gets weaker. The converse is true and preferable. Strengthening U.S. allies improves U.S. national security.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
.
Read More