In a recent development, former President Donald Trump disclosed that Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered assistance to the United States in breaking Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz. During an interview with Fox News, Trump shared that President Xi expressed a willingness to support the U.S. efforts, stating, “If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help.” Given China’s significant oil purchases, Xi’s interest in keeping the Hormuz Strait unblocked is unsurprising. Although Trump did not specify what China might expect in return, it is clear that Beijing is keen on securing tariff relief and gaining access to advanced American AI technology. Notably, Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, who accompanied Trump on the trip, witnessed progress as the U.S. allowed several Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance, to purchase its H200 AI chips, leading to a more than 4 percent increase in Nvidia’s stock on Thursday.
Despite Trump’s warm remarks about Xi, tensions simmered earlier that Thursday. Xi cautioned that mishandling the Taiwan issue could precipitate “an extremely dangerous situation.” According to statements from China’s foreign ministry, Xi noted that well-managed relations could ensure stability between the two nations, but poor management might lead to conflict. Trump’s negotiating position is complicated by the ongoing conflict with Iran, initiated on February 28. The summit, originally scheduled for March, was postponed as the United States sought to establish peace in the Persian Gulf, where the conflict has significantly impacted the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil prices to spike globally.
Trump asserted that China, which obtains about half of its crude oil from the Hormuz Strait, is more eager than the U.S. to see the passage reopened. However, U.S. intelligence reports suggest that China is leveraging its substantial oil reserves to support American allies like Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines, thus enhancing its stature as a global superpower amidst the crisis. Additionally, Beijing has provided military aid to Washington’s Gulf allies as the U.S. grapples with dwindling missile inventories. According to a recent Joint Staff analysis, U.S. forces have expended nearly half of their Patriot interceptors, more than half of their THAAD defenses, and over 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in the 39-day conflict. Experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimate that restocking these arsenals could take three to five years.
The drain has rattled Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, where officials are openly questioning whether the US can still be relied on to defend them. Trump did not publicly respond to Xi’s Taiwan warning. Asked after the morning summit how the talks had progressed, Trump offered only: ‘Great. Great place. Incredible. China’s beautiful.’ A readout of the meeting from a White House official also made no mention of Taiwan. US sales of military equipment to the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own, have long enraged the Chinese government and threaten to derail already-fraught engagement on trade between the world’s top two economies.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump would say more on Taiwan ‘in the coming days’, adding that the President ‘understands the sensitivities’ about the island. Trump said days before the trip that he would discuss US arms sales to Taiwan with Xi, something that would be a break with a decades-long policy of not consulting with Beijing on the issue. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also in Beijing and known for his hardline stance on China during his Senate years, suggested continuity in an interview aboard Air Force One. ‘It’s not in China’s interest or anyone’s interest for there to be any sort of forced change in the status quo. I think stability there is very important,’ he told Fox News.
Trump could seek to use US arms sales to Taiwan as a bargaining chip to push Beijing into leaning on Tehran to accept a deal ending the war, according to reports. Ryan Hass, an expert on China and Taiwan at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, threw cold water on the proposition. ‘Doing so would violate Beijing’s longstanding principle that Taiwan is “non-negotiable.” It isn’t how Beijing rolls,’ he wrote on social media. ‘More likely, both leaders will affirm their shared interest in stabilizing relations and use (economic and) commercial deals to demonstrate progress.’
