China turns its back on Iran after Trump intervention over Strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump has secured an agreement with China's President Xi Jinping that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open for the free flow of energy.
China's president Xi Jinping distanced himself from Iran after reportedly backing Donald Trump's stance on the Strait of Hormuz, according to the White House.
"The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy," the White House said in a statement on Thursday, praising the Chinese leader's "good meeting" with Trump, who has been given a new Chinese nickname with a nasty translation.
"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 statement continued.
The White House asserted that China voiced support for Trump's objective behind launching military action alongside Israel against Iran. "Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon," the statement added.
Trump's China visit arrives at a precarious juncture for his presidency, with domestic approval ratings hampered by the US and Israel's conflict with Iran and surging inflation stemming from that confrontation. The conflict has resulted in the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, leaving oil and natural gas tankers stranded and driving energy costs to heights that threaten to undermine global economic stability.
The US president insisted that Xi's involvement in resolving the crisis was unnecessary, despite Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visiting Beijing last week.
Read more: Xi Jinping forced to intervene as Trump health fears surge
Read more: Trump's security agent in 'intense gun standoff' with Chinese officials
"We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn't say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control," Trump told reporters Tuesday. That same day, freshly published data revealed that US consumer prices surged sharply once more last month.
The Labor Department's consumer price index climbed 3.8% from April 2025, marking the steepest rise in three years, and up from a 3.3% year-on-year increase in March.
Month-on-month, April prices jumped 0.6% from March as petrol costs soared 5.4%, according to Tuesday's figures.
The monthly increase represented a decline from the 0.9% rise in overall prices between February and March, when the initial economic impact from the war struck the US economy.
Marco Rubio, accompanying Trump in Beijing, said administration officials would emphasise during the summit that "economies are melting down because of this crisis" and that will result in consumers "buying less Chinese product.
"So it's in their interest to resolve this," the secretary of state said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
"We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they're doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf," Rubio added, in remarks that appeared to contrast with Trump's own message.
This follows Melania Trump breaking royal protocol in a controversial gown featuring a shocking detail.
