Trump asks China if visit to Beijing can be delayed a month due to Iran war | China
Trump wanted to postpone a planned visit to Beijing by about a month because of the Iran war, after previously hinting that he might postpone the trip if potential hosts did not help unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was scheduled for the end of March, but Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday: “I want to be here because of the war, I feel like I need to be here. So we requested that we postpone it for about a month.”
While China said that it was in communication with the USA regarding the visit, the country’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: “Presidential diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-US relations. The two sides maintain communication regarding President Trump’s visit to China.”
Trump had suggested that the highly anticipated trip could be suspended if China did not respond to the US’s request for assistance from third countries for the security of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is a crucial transit point for international trade, which has been disrupted by the US-Israeli war with Iran.
On Monday, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “We’ll see if the visit happens as planned. But what I want to pick apart – and there’s a false narrative out there – is that if the meetings are postponed, they won’t be postponed because the president has requested that China police the Strait of Hormuz.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was “quite possible” the meeting would be postponed.
Trump will be in Beijing from March 31 to April 2, where he will meet the Chinese president.
In an interview published by Finance Times On Sunday the US president said: “It would be appropriate for the people who use the Strait to help ensure that nothing bad happens there.
“I think China should also help because China provides 90 percent of its oil through the straits.”
China imports approximately 50 percent of its crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Beijing has refused to comply with Trump’s demands over the weekend that other countries send warships to help secure the vital shipping route.
On Monday, Lin called for a ceasefire in Iran to “prevent further escalation of tensions, prevent turmoil in the region, and prevent greater impacts on global economic development.”
He said China “maintains communication with all parties” on the situation and is committed to promoting “de-escalation and de-escalation”.
Tehran has effectively closed the vital waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil passes, in retaliation for US and Israeli airstrikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. The blockage caused the largest oil supply disruption in history and caused global oil prices to rise.
It is reported that China is in talks with the Iranian regime about allowing oil tankers to pass through the Gulf, but no agreement has been reached on a definitive outcome.
Trump and Xi met in South Korea in October and agreed to a temporary truce in the US-China trade war that shook the global economy last year.
Bessent and Chinese vice premier He Lifeng will wrap up trade talks in Paris on Monday ahead of the Xi-Trump summit. As the two sides discussed possible deals on agriculture and critical mineral trade, Reuters reported that talks were “remarkably stable” despite the chaotic international environment.
In recent weeks, China has declined to comment on whether Trump launching a major war in the Middle East involving a key Chinese strategic partner could undermine the upcoming Xi-Trump summit.
A face-to-face meeting between the two leaders is vital to restoring stability between the world’s two largest economies.
“China will continue to strengthen communication with relevant parties, including parties to the conflict, and play a constructive role in reducing tensions and restoring peace,” a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told CNN on Sunday.
Although China has not officially commented on how recent events might affect the summit, nationalist bloggers and state media have suggested the meeting could be called into question.
Niu Tanqin, an influential foreign affairs blog affiliated with Chinese state media, said that “the US is actually begging China to help clean up the mess created in Iran.”
Ren Yi, a nationalist Chinese commentator whose comments are often close to Beijing’s stance, wrote of
