The rise of Iran and a bitter Iran-U.S. antagonism composed the background
of Sino-Iranian relations in the first decade of the twenty-first
century. Iran is extremely significant to China’s geopolitical and energy
interests, as well as to economic, trade, and non-traditional security interests,
so China must keep at least one eye on Iran. At the same time, on the
global level, Sino-U.S. relations are defined as the most important bilateral
relationship, and China must consider core American concerns. In other
words, it should not damage relations with Washington by unconditionally
supporting Iran. China has to take a pragmatic approach. After the two
visits made by Hu Jintao as vice president in January 2001 and Jiang Zemin
as president in April 2002, Chinese presidential and prime ministerial visits
to Iran stopped, although Ahmadinejad visited China in September 2008.
The summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has become a
good chance for the leaders of the two countries to exchange views, and
they met in Shanghai in June 2006, in Bishkek in August 2007, and in
Yekaterinburg in June 2009.