Highlighting his “very good relationship” with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, United States President Donald Trump Tuesday firmly rejected claims that China has challenged his administration over war with Iran, South China Morning Post reported.
At a White House event on May 5, Trump told reporters, “We haven’t been challenged by China. They don’t challenge us,” on its war with Iran, adding that Xi “wouldn’t do that – I don’t think he’d do that because of me,” the SCMP quoted.
Trump’s rejection comes just days before the two leaders are set to meet at the summit in Beijing on May 14 and 15, where they are scheduled to discuss the Iran situation.
The US President’s statement comes as his Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Chinese officials to make the most of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to China, urging Tehran to release its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz — a key global energy route, news agency AP reported.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Araghchi on Wednesday, according to a report by the Xinhua news agency. “I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Rubio said during a White House briefing. “And that is what you are doing in the Strait is causing you to be globally isolated. You’re the bad guy in this.”
US claims China worst affected by closure of Strait
Marco Rubio also claimed that China was worst hit by the closure of the Hormuz, persuading China to push Iran to reopen the Strait. According to China’s General Administration of Customs, Beijing’s export-based economy depends highly on shipments passing through the Strait. The country also imports about half of its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from the Middle East.
Trump too echoed the same sentiment, saying, “You know, in all fairness, he gets like 60 per cent of his oil from Hormuz, and he’s been, I think he’s been very respectful,” adding that he has offered China to send its ships to the US.
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“I think one of the big things that’s happened is I made a statement, send your ships to Texas. It’s not that much further… Send your ships to Louisiana. Send your ships to Alaska. Alaska is actually very close to a lot of the Asian countries. People don’t realise it,” Trump informed the press, the SCMP shared in its report.
Did China support Tehran?
Even though Trump rejected the suggestion that China had challenged the US, China has been quite critical of the US military action against its economic partner in the Middle East, AP noted.
Moreover, according to the US government, China has also supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components used for missile production.
However, Trump confirmed in April that Xi Jinping had agreed to not provide weapons to Iran.
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Earlier too, Trump had clarified Beijing’s role in encouraging Iran to reach a fragile ceasefire with the US as talks faltered in April.
Trump’s administration is making critical efforts towards influencing China to step further in getting the Hormuz reopened effectively.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a Fox News interview, said, “The threat of attacks from Iran has closed the strait — we are reopening it… So I would urge the Chinese to join us in supporting this international operation.”
China’s objective stance
Meanwhile, China has continued to maintain its “objective, impartial, and balanced stance” as it advocated for a ceasefire involving the US, Iran, and Israel, calling for an end to hostilities, since the beginning of the war in February this year.
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Moreover, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said that China will continue to work alongside the international community towards the restoration of peace and stability in the Middle East and Gulf regions, the report quoted.
