The White House said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed during a bilateral summit that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open and that Iran can “never have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump is halfway through a two-day bilateral summit with Xi in Beijing. The two leaders have spent hours behind closed doors discussing trade, the war in Iran, and existing American policies regarding Taiwan.
Both nations provided readouts indicating to their respective countries that the leaders had sufficiently discussed the top-line issues. On Iran, in particular, the White House said that Xi had agreed with Trump on the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions must be stunted.
“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy. President Xi also made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use, and he expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future,” the White House wrote. “Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
China has long supported the regime in Tehran and is one of its largest clients when it comes to oil. Between 25% and 50% of the total oil consumed in China comes from Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump rejected a recent peace proposal from Tehran.