ZTE, China and Iran Nuclear Agreement

While China was in the process of negotiating with the US, Russia, UK, & Germany on the Iran Nuclear Agreement, ZTE was already violating the principles that were being laid down.  By being a part of the negotiations, China knew what plans were being made to restrict Iran's nuclear capabilities, and set out to violate them even before the agreement was formally drawn up.  The US sanctioned ZTE for those violations, but the real culprit was China's leadership.  The US noted violations started in 2010, and continued though 2016, the year after the Nuclear Agreement was made. 

China pretends that its businesses are independent, just like those of the rest of the world, when we know they are not.  When we sanctioned ZTE, we were sanctioning the central government of China.  Do we think they can change their behavior because they sign agreements between our trade representatives?  China does what it wants.  Agreements and negotiations are useless.