The US governmentis counting on China’s input to break the deadlock over the Strait of Hormuz, according to US diplomatic chief Marco Rubio.
“We hope to persuade them to play a more active role in order for Iran to stop what it is doing now and trying to do in the Persian Gulf,” he saidtheForeign MinisterRubio to a Fox News camera on board the presidential aircraft en route to China.
Marco Rubio is accompanying US President Donald Trump on his official visit to the world’s second economy. A multi-member US delegation arrived in Beijing yesterday. US President Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today.
His foreign minister argued that China has “many” reasons to want to resolve the crisis in the strait, which is virtually impassable, recalling that there are Chinese ships blockaded in the Gulf.
Reminding that China has an export-oriented economy, he said it is suffering from the economic consequences of the crisis because other countries are buying fewer Chinese products.
The Secretary’s statements–who is also a national security adviser–on the face of it contradict what President Trump said. Asked about it, the Republican said that “I don’t think we need help” from China to end the crisis that began when the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic was launched on February 28th, despite the fact that indirect talks through Pakistan appear to have reached an impasse.
The strait has been effectively paralyzed since then, with the US armed forces imposing a blockade of Iranian ports in retaliation.
Peking is among Tehran’s most important trading and strategic partners and is the importer of most of Iran’s exported crude.
