BeiDou Navigation System: Free for Iran & North Korea, But Pushed Chinese Truck Driver to Death
Hello, everyone, welcome to “Inconvenient Truths”. I am your host Jennifer Zeng.
A while ago, right before the U.S. and Iran were going to hold indirect talks on April 6, the CCP and Iran signed a 25-year Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement. According to the agreement, China will provide its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System to Iran to enhance Iran’s combat capabilities. Today I’d like to discuss a little bit of the agreement, and what this BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, or Beidou system, means for the US and the world.
The China-Iran Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement includes three main aspects:
- The CCP will invest $400 billion in Iran for energy and infrastructure construction.
- Oil and trade transactions between China and Iran will be settled in Renminbi; and
- Iran will install the CCP’s Beidou system for its missiles.
Among the three items, the Renminbi settlement and the Beidou System have caused the most concerns.
Settlement in Renminbi Can Bypass U.S. Sanctions on Iran
Under the U.S. sanctions against Iran, countries are prohibited from conducting oil transactions with Iran, and if the U.S. dollar is used in such transactions, the relevant banks will be subject to U.S. secondary sanctions, all financial ties with the U.S. will be severed, and all business and assets will be frozen.
In addition, the U.S. will pressure the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to cut its telecommunication ties with Iran.
However, if Renminbi is used to settle oil trade between the CCP and Iran, the CCP will help Iran to get rid of the restrictions of using US dollars, thus largely bypassing the US sanctions.
