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Van Rompuy also nudged Beijing to help bring Iran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program. Western governments suspect Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons but the Iranian government denies that. China, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude, has rejected U.S. and European efforts to impose an oil embargo to force Tehran to negotiate. "I shared with Premier Wen our deep concern on the Iranian nuclear program and I explained to him that our actions and sanctions are aimed to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table," Van Rompuy said. Wen said China and Europe had common concerns in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and appealed for a negotiated settlement but gave no sign Beijing might joint in economic pressure on Tehran. Van Rompuy said the two sides also discussed human rights but gave no details. "As a partner and friend of China, I've also expressed the serious concern Europeans have for these achievements (in combating poverty) to be accompanied by similar progress in respecting universal human rights and rule of law," he said. Wen said China was willing to discuss human rights but "such a dialogue should be carried out on the basis of mutual respect and objectivity in order to build further trust." Responding to spiraling unrest in Tibetan areas, the premier defended Beijing's policies on Tibet, saying the government respects traditional culture. He said China has invested heavily in Tibet and will continue to do so. "The people living in Tibet are an important component of the big family of ethnic groups in the Chinese nation," Wen said. "Any attempt to incite a small number of monks to take radical moves to undermine stability in the Tibet Autonomous Region is not in the interests of people living in Tibet and such an attempt has no popular support."
[Associated
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