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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112504112.html
U.S. Cites Israel to Seek China Backing on Iran
(Washington Post) John Pomfret and Joby Warrick - Two weeks before President Obama visited China, senior White House officials Dennis Ross and Jeffrey Bader traveled to Beijing to try to persuade China to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program. The Chinese were told that Israel regards Iran's nuclear program as an "existential issue and that countries that have an existential issue don't listen to other countries." The implication was clear: a crisis in the Persian Gulf region could lead to problems over the supply of oil to China. Earlier this week, China informed the U.S. that it would support a toughly worded statement criticizing Iran for constructing a secret uranium-enrichment plant - the first such declaration since 2006 to be backed by both China and Russia.