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China will not help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as President Donald Trump requested, according to reporting carried as the Iran war deepened and Trump’s planned trip to Beijing faced new uncertainty. The response came amid pressure tied to whether oil can move through the strait and amid concerns that the United States could become mired in the Middle East while managing the wider crisis it is pursuing.
The developments unfolded during what AP described as the Iran war’s third week, with mounting pressure linked to disruptions in the strait and with U.S. allies refusing to step up to secure it. In that context, analysts told AP that China likely sees value in the delay of Trump’s trip even as it declines to play a direct role in reopening Hormuz.
Ali Wyne, a senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group, said Trump’s request to delay his summit with President Xi Jinping highlighted how the U.S. may have underestimated the fallout from an operation launched in response to the crisis. Wyne added that the effort meant to intimidate Beijing instead “served to puncture the illusion of U.S. omnipotence,” because Washington could not reopen the Strait of Hormuz alone and would now “need[] its principal strategic competitor to help it manage a crisis of its own making.”
When asked whether China would help reopen the strait, China’s foreign ministry gave what AP characterized as a nonanswer. The ministry repeated its call for “parties to immediately stop military operations, avoid further escalation of the tense situation and prevent regional turmoil from further impacting the global economy.”
Beijing had not formally confirmed the state visit at earlier stages, and it had originally been scheduled for March 31. China’s posture, according to AP, included signaling willingness to work with the United States to reschedule the visit by saying the two sides “remain in communication.” AP also reported that China helped clarify that any postponement was not connected to Trump’s request for China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
On Tuesday, Trump said the Chinese “were fine” with the delay and described having “a very good working relationship with China.” Analysts also pointed to the broader diplomatic context: Brett Fetterly, a managing principal in the China practice at The Asia Group, said a delay could be welcome for both sides, noting the political environment made it difficult for the U.S. commander in chief to travel abroad while managing military operations. Fetterly also said, from the Chinese side, time could help both countries clarify what the U.S. and China would consider deliverables from their engagement.
Fetterly said a recent trade talk in Paris between the two governments yielded little agreement and suggested difficulties remained in addressing structural differences in trade, technology, and economic security. He also said both sides likely needed time to define what range of deliverables they could set. He added that U.S. business concerns had also emerged about whether preparations for the summit might be sufficient to generate substantive agreements.
Other analysts said the U.S. posture in the Middle East could affect its larger priorities in Asia. Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute studying U.S. strategy in Asia, said shifting military assets—including Marines deployed as part of a rapid-response unit and an anti-missile defense system—from the Indo-Pacific region raised concerns the U.S. could appear distracted and face resource constraints. Cooper said a delay in the trip could also imply delays in arms sales to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China has vowed to take by force if necessary, while the U.S. remains bound by its own law to provide Taiwan with sufficient hardware to defend itself.
Cooper said he believed China was likely satisfied with the delay and the advantages that could come if the U.S. became “bogged down in the Middle East.” He added that many Chinese experts and officials believe the United States is undermining itself, and that Beijing could “just need to get out of the way,” as the U.S. handles the unfolding crisis.
Separate from the Hormuz question, AP reported that China, through the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, delivered to Iran an emergency humanitarian aid package of $200,000. The aid was earmarked for families of children and teachers killed in the bombing of the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in Minab, Iran, AP reported, with the Chinese ambassador to Iran condemning the school attack.