Trump, Xi discuss Iran and Strait of Hormuz reopening in Beijing

Donald Trump left Zhongnanhai with a striking claim of unity on Iran, but the Beijing summit produced no public Chinese pledge to match it. Trump said he and Xi Jinping felt “very similar on Iran,” agreed that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and shared a desire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz before he departed China after two days of talks and a final meeting at the leadership compound.

The stakes were high because the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which began on February 28, had already disrupted global energy flows. Before the fighting, the Strait of Hormuz carried about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, making it one of the most important pressure points in global trade. The White House said the two leaders wanted the strait reopened, and Trump said Xi would not send Iran military equipment. Xi, however, did not publicly comment on the Iran discussion.

That silence matters. China is Iran’s close strategic partner and the main buyer of Iranian oil, which gives Beijing leverage but also gives it a reason to avoid a hard break with Tehran. China’s foreign ministry said the conflict “should never have happened” and should not continue, while backing peace efforts. But a Brookings Institution analyst said there was no Chinese commitment to do anything specific regarding Iran, underscoring the gap between Trump’s language and Beijing’s actual posture.

For that summit talk to become policy, Beijing would have to do more than endorse de-escalation. It would need to restrain oil purchases, curb any military support, and press Tehran to reduce threats to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. That would mean putting regional stability and lower oil-market risk ahead of a relationship China still values as a counterweight to Washington, a trade-off Beijing has shown little sign of making.

Iran was not the only issue on the table. The talks also covered Taiwan, trade, artificial intelligence and nuclear arms, and the visit was Trump’s first trip to China since 2017 and the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders in more than six months. Trump called the trip “incredible” and said it produced “fantastic trade deals,” even as Beijing warned Washington about mishandling Taiwan and repeated that the Iran war should never have started.