The WSJ reports,"flush with the success of the Russian gas deal, China is wasting no time in making other regional friends.
State-owned Sinopec is pushing to start a new phase in an Iranian oil-field development, a plan Iran says it is likely to approve, The Wall Street Journal’s Benoit Faucon reports.
The push is part of a broader attempt by China and Iran to mend fences after thecancellation of a separate project. But it also comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping was widely credited with getting the best of the gas deal brokered this week with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The Chinese are traveling the world to assuage their appetite for energy, and they know how to adjust their strategy in their pursuit of new supplies.
A softly-softly approach, backed up with hard cash, works in the West, a waiting game with Russia was played out until the timing was right for a deal, while to the south, the Journal’s Michael Auslin says Beijing is using aggressive, intimidating tactics".
