Donald Trump threatened to delay his summit with Xi Jinping if Beijing doesn’t help secure the Strait of Hormuz, as the United States-Israel war stifles oil supplies and unsettles ties between the world’s biggest economies.

Trump stressed China’s dependence on oil from the Middle East in an interview with the Financial Times, as he reiterated a demand for Beijing to help unblock the key waterway. One day earlier, the Republican leader appealed to China to join a team effort to send ships to the strait through which a fifth of the world’s

oil supply passes. “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump said Sunday in the FT interview. His trip to Beijing slated for the end of this month would be too late, Trump added, underscoring the growing urgency around efforts to counter Iran’s chokehold on the strait.

While China hasn’t made any direct response to the request, the state-run Global Times dismissed the idea as Trump’s attempt to spread the risk “of a war that Washington started and can’t finish.” The commentary published by the nationalist tabloid on Sunday night explained why Beijing wouldn’t sign up to the proposal.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian sidestepped the issue of sending ships to the strait on Monday at a regular briefing in Beijing, while reiterating both sides were in communication about the summit. “Head of state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable role in providing strategic guidance to China-U.S. relations,” he added, without specifying a timeframe for the leaders’ meeting.

Trump’s comments come as Chinese and U.S. trade chiefs are convening in Paris to tee-up the summit, with talks set to resume on Monday. Trump administration officials have also said they are engaging with allies including the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan to secure the strait, although so far most countries have expressed caution about deploying resources to an active war zone.

While it’s unsurprising Trump wants Beijing’s help, China has little incentive to entangle itself in a spiralling conflict, said Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai.

“That’s his war, not our war,” said Wu, who has previously advised China’s Foreign Ministry. “Why should we send ships there — for what purpose? To join the U.S. and its allies to fight Iran? I don’t think it is a wise thing for China to do under the current circumstances.”

Chinese officials have so far condemned Trump’s war on Iran — a diplomatic friend of Beijing — and would be unlikely to send ships, in part because some carriers bound for China still appear to be getting through. While China is the biggest user of oil passing through the strait, it also has vast stockpiles to help manage any interruptions.

Trump has a history of making threats to call off deals in the final stages of negotiating, a move he’s used to gain leverage. The U.S. leader made a similar threat weeks before a planned meeting with Xi in October, accompanied by steep tariff-hike proposals. That meeting ultimately went ahead and extended a trade war truce.

A delay to the summit could suit Beijing. China had previously proposed Trump arriving at the end of April to allow more time for preparations, according to a person familiar with the matter. Such a postponement would allow for more discussion on security and diplomatic issues including self-ruled Taiwan.

Sitting on the sidelines

Trump’s rare appeal for Xi’s help in securing trade through an active war zone stands in contrast to China’s long-standing approach of non-interference in overseas conflicts.

When the Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea some two years back, Beijing also didn’t contribute to the international coalition that dispatched military assets, preferring instead to sit on the sidelines. For Xi, the costs weren’t high enough to outweigh the risks of getting involved.

Former Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin — once one of China’s loudest nationalistic voices — in a post on social media platform X accused Trump of “trying to drag more countries into the conflict and bind as many nations as possible to the U.S.-Israel alliance.”

China does have the capability and experience of escorting ships, however. Beijing has regularly sent flotillas to Djibouti — its only official overseas military base.

The most recent flotilla — consisting of a destroyer, a frigate and a supply vessel — departed China in October and has since escorted at least one Panama-registered cargo ship as part of anti-piracy efforts and participated in military exercises near South Africa. Its most recent public activity was on March 14, when it practised live firing exercises in between escort missions at the Gulf of Aden.

China will likely contribute in some way to addressing the Iran situation, but not necessarily in the way Trump might want, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center.

“The Chinese are most likely to mediate diplomatically,” she said. “They could ask Iran to keep the strait open, but with conditions that U.S. and Israel must fulfill. It takes two to tango.”

That’s a message that could be conveyed as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng sit down for a second day of talks in Paris. Those conversations are focused on mapping out deliverables and discussing thorny issues such as tariffs, fentanyl and Taiwan — the island the Communist Party considers its territory, despite never having ruled it.

Those talks on Sunday were characterized as stable, with Chinese negotiators showing an openness to making more purchases of U.S. agricultural products including poultry, beef and non-soybean row crops, Reuters reported. The U.S. also pushed for additional Chinese purchases of Boeing Co. jetliners and U.S. coal, oil and natural gas, according to the report.

Underscoring more looming disruptions after Trump’s sweeping levies were struck down by the Supreme Court, China on Monday announced it had lodged complaints to the U.S. over fresh Section 301 probes into forced-labour trade practices during the talks, according to a statement by the Chinese Commerce Ministry.

China isn’t alone in facing pressure from Trump. The U.S. president also warned European allies, telling the Financial Times

NATO faces a “very bad” future should its member states fail to help.

“Now we’ll see if they help us. Because I’ve long said that we’ll be there for them but they won’t be there for us,” Trump told the paper.

For China, entangling itself in a “divisive and dangerous conflict” in the Middle East would come while Xi is dealing with military purges at home, said Bloomberg Economics’ Jennifer Welch.

“I don’t think they are that desperate for a summit,” she added. “If Trump pushes further, for example threatens trade actions, they may threaten retaliation with critical minerals.”

—With assistance from Nectar Gan, Jon Herskovitz, Josh Xiao, Lucille Liu and Jing Li.

  • Oil prices could get high enough to force a COVID-level lockdown
  • Once red-hot, Dubai real estate bonds slump on demand fears