China criticizes Iran sanctions as Merkel visits

BEIJING — China's main ruling party newspaper criticized sanctions on Iran as German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Friday with President Hu Jintao after urging Beijing to press Tehran to avoid developing nuclear weapons.

Western efforts to pressure Iran with an oil embargo are "casting a shadow over the global economy," said People's Daily, the main Communist Party mouthpiece. It appealed to other governments to "keep calm and restrained and not escalate tensions."

China, which gets about 10 percent of its oil imports from Iran, has rejected sanctions and Chinese analysts have warned of a possible economic shock from an embargo because Beijing would be hard-pressed to replace those supplies.

Merkel appealed Thursday to Beijing, Iran's biggest oil customer, to use its influence to persuade Tehran to renounce possible plans to develop nuclear weapons. At an appearance with Premier Wen Jiabao, the German leader said sanctions were unavoidable.

Also Thursday, Wen said Beijing might contribute to European bailout funds but made no financial commitment.

The European Union imposed an oil embargo on Iran last week and froze the assets of its central bank. In December, the United States said it would bar financial institutions from the U.S. market if they do business with Iran's central bank.

People's Daily repeated previous Chinese arguments but the decision to publish it while Merkel was in Beijing suggested Beijing's attitude might be hardening.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visited Beijing in January to lobby China to join in sanctions on Iran. Chinese leaders did not respond publicly but government spokespeople said China's commercial relations with Iran had no connection to the Iranian nuclear program.

In an appearance Thursday at a government think tank, Merkel acknowledged Beijing's opposition to sanctions and said, "The question is more how China can use its influence to make Iran understand that the world should not have another nuclear power."

Merkel's visit also is aimed at reassuring Beijing about Europe's financial health following agreement this week on a treaty on government spending that its leaders hope will end their debt crisis and revive economic growth.

Merkel is the first of several European leaders to visit China this month for talks expected largely to focus on the economic crisis.

On Thursday, Wen said a resolution of Europe's debt crisis is "urgent" and said China is considering playing a bigger role.