As the much-anticipated summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing approaches, critical discussions are underway.
In Washington, White House officials are urging China to leverage its influence with Iran to ensure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This diplomatic push comes just days before the significant meeting between Trump and Xi in Beijing.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called upon Chinese leaders to use the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to China as an opportunity to persuade Tehran to lift its blockade on this vital maritime passage. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has already held talks with Araghchi, as reported by Xinhua, China’s official news agency.
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Rubio further argued that China is suffering more than the U.S. due to the effective shutdown of the strait amidst the ongoing conflict. With an economy heavily reliant on exports, China depends significantly on shipments that pass through the strait. According to China’s General Administration of Customs, nearly half of China’s crude oil and about a third of its liquefied natural gas come from the Middle East.
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During a White House briefing on Tuesday, Rubio expressed his hopes that China would convey a strong message to Iran. “I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Rubio stated. “And that is that their actions in the strait are isolating them globally. They are the antagonists here.”
“I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Rubio said during a White House briefing Tuesday. “And that is that what you are doing in the strait is causing you to be globally isolated. You’re the bad guy in this.”
The secretary went on to argue that China has been hit harder than the U.S. by Iran’s effective shuttering of the strait during the two-month old war. Beijing’s export-driven economy depends on shipments going through the strait. China also imports about half of its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from the Middle East, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.
“It is in China’s interest that Iran stop closing the strait,” Rubio said.
A diplomat familiar with the matter also told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the U.S. has been engaging in serious efforts to persuade China to abstain from vetoing the most recent U.S.-backed resolution at the U.N. Security Council aimed at opening up the strait and condemning Iran’s actions. The diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations.
China and Russia — Tehran’s two allies on the council — last month vetoed an earlier Hormuz resolution, saying it went too far and did not condemn the U.S. and Israel for strikes that started the war.
Rubio’s push on China to get more involved came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Iran would be high on the agenda when Trump meets with Xi for the first visit by a U.S. president to China since Trump visited in 2017.
The effective shuttering of the strait is having an enormous impact on Asia broadly, a factor that seems to have informed the Chinese government’s efforts to consult with Pakistan to help mediate a two-week ceasefire.
To be certain, Trump has said he believes China played a part in encouraging Iran to agree to a fragile ceasefire that was forged last month. Three diplomats who were familiar with China’s behind-the-scenes efforts also confirmed that Beijing, the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil, used its leverage to get the Iranians back to the negotiating table as talks wobbled.
But the Republican administration believes China can still do more to get involved in reopening the critical waterway.
“The threat of attacks from Iran has closed the strait — we are reopening it,” Bessent said in a Fox News interview. “So I would urge the Chinese to join us in supporting this international operation.”
Trump himself spoke in more measured tones about China’s involvement with Iran, telling reporters in the Oval Office earlier Tuesday that China hasn’t “challenged” him even as he continues to press Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program and open the strait. China, however, has been critical of the U.S. military action against its long-isolated economic partner in the Middle East.
“You know, in all fairness, he gets, like, 60% of his oil from Hormuz,” said Trump, slightly exaggerating Xi and China’s dependence on Middle East oil.
China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.
But Trump said last month that Xi had agreed not to provide weapons to Iran as reports circulated that Beijing had considered transferring arms.
Days after Trump said he received a letter of assurance from Xi, he claimed in an interview with CNBC that the U.S. forces had intercepted a boat containing a “gift” from China bound for Iran. Trump did not offer further details.
The administration has also sought to step up economic pressure on China, Tehran’s biggest trade partner, for its ties to the Islamic Republic.
The Treasury Department announced on April 24 that it was levying sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The sanctions cut off the companies from the U.S. financial system and penalize anyone who does business with them.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have signaled they will look to press the U.S. to dial back weapons sales to the self-ruled island of Taiwan that China views as its own breakaway province.
Rubio confirmed Taiwan would likely be part of the conversation between the leaders. “I think both countries understand that it is neither one of our interests to see anything destabilizing happen in that part of the world,” Rubio said. “We don’t need any destabilizing events to occur concerning Taiwan or anywhere in the Indo-Pacific. And I think that’s to the mutual benefit of both the United States and the Chinese.”
Trump, in December, announced a record-setting $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan. Trump later suggested he would discuss the arms sales with Xi — a move that has alarmed officials in Taipei.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a call with Rubio, urged the United States to “make the right choices” on Taiwan to safeguard “stability” between the two nations, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Amiri reported from New York.
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