HONG KONG — China has been a quiet — if crucial — player in the Iran war, as U.S. military action upends the global economy.
That changed Tuesday, as Beijing assailed the American blockade of Iranian ports as “dangerous and irresponsible,” while leader Xi Jinping warned against a return to the “law of the jungle.”
This public intervention was its most significant to date as China, which has close ties with Iran, faces growing pressure to use its influence to bring an end to the war.
Some of that pressure is coming from the U.S. military's blockade, which has alarmed the world’s largest importer of crude oil.
More than half of China's energy comes through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
“Such actions will only intensify contradictions, exacerbate tensions, undermine the already fragile ceasefire, and further jeopardize the security of navigation through the strait,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters Tuesday of the U.S. blockade. “This is dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”
China has been critical of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as well as Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Gulf states, calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. President Donald Trump was among those who cited Beijing as being key in bringing Tehran to the table for the ceasefire agreement with Washington.
But Xi himself had not made substantial comments until Tuesday, when he said the international rule of law “must be safeguarded.”
“It must not be selectively applied or disregarded, nor should the world be allowed to regress to the law of the jungle,” he said during a meeting in Beijing with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout.
The crown prince is just one of multiple foreign dignitaries to visit Beijing in recent days as it doubles down on diplomacy and seizes another opportunity to showcase its contrast with American foreign policy.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, visiting China for the fourth time in as many years, said Tuesday: “I find it very difficult to find other interlocutors, beyond China, who can resolve this situation.”
Sánchez has earned Trump’s ire by refusing to allow the U.S. to use Spain’s airspace or jointly run military bases for the Iran war.
It is a balancing act for Beijing, too, as it also wants to avoid direct confrontation with the U.S. ahead of Trump’s own highly anticipated visit next month.
Though China is better positioned than many of its Asian neighbors to withstand the global energy crisis created by the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, it risks serious damage to its economy and energy security if the war drags on. Beijing is particularly concerned about Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Gulf states, where it has major commercial interests.
“If the Middle East countries will be just one after another falling into the conflict, then it will be very detrimental to China’s investment in the Middle East,” said Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Studies at China’s Nanjing University.
Still, Zhu said, China is not looking to get militarily involved in the Middle East.
An intervention “would be a heavy blow to our largely vulnerable relationship” with the U.S., Zhu told NBC News.
U.S. intelligence reporting suggests China is planning to provide new air defense weaponry to Iran in the coming weeks, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. CNN first reported on the U.S. intelligence, a prospect that led Trump to threaten an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods.
Beijing denied having such plans.
“The relevant reports are entirely fabricated,” Guo said, adding that China would take “countermeasures” if the U.S. uses the reports as a “pretext” for additional tariffs.
China has long provided a lifeline for heavily sanctioned Iran, which sends about 80% its crude oil exports to China at a discount via a shadow fleet of aging tankers.
Iran makes up a small percentage of China’s oil imports overall, however, an imbalance that is seen as giving Beijing unique leverage over Tehran.
Very few Chinese ships appear to be transiting the Strait of Hormuz, however, with traffic virtually at a standstill.
They include a U.S.-sanctioned Chinese tanker that transited the strait Tuesday after departing Sharjah, a United Arab Emirates port that is not subject to the U.S. blockade. MarineTraffic data showed that the Rich Starry, which the Treasury Department sanctioned in 2018 over its dealings with Iran, was the first vessel to pass through the waterway overnight.
The ship was one of two tankers that have made U-turns as they approached the Strait of Hormuz before resuming their transit through the waterway. The Rich Starry also made a U-turn after it passed through the strait, data showed.
“By intensifying pressure on the shadow fleet and Iranian oil routes to China, the Trump administration hopes to make Beijing — Tehran’s largest customer — uncomfortable enough to quietly leverage its influence and push Iran toward curbing its nuclear program or regional activities,” said Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis.
But that is easier said than done, she said.
China, which has been building up its oil reserves for years, is estimated to have enough to last more than 100 days. It also imports oil from multiple countries, continues to rely heavily on coal and is largely energy self-sufficient, “which cushions China against any single chokepoint in the Gulf or Iranian supplies,” she said via text message.
Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Beijing, Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong, and Mithil Aggarwal from New Delhi.
