The US government is leaning on China to help resolve the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"We hope to convince them to play a more active role in stopping what Iran is doing and trying to do in the Persian Gulf," Rubio told Fox News on a flight from Air Force One to China.
Marco Rubio is accompanying US President Donald Trump on his official visit to the world's second-largest economy. A large US delegation arrived in Beijing yesterday. US President Trump is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping today.
The Secretary of State argued that China has "many" reasons to want the crisis in the strait, which is practically insurmountable, to be resolved, recalling that there are also Chinese ships blocked in the Persian Gulf.
Recalling that China has an export-oriented economy, he considered that it is being affected by the economic consequences of the crisis because other countries are buying fewer Chinese products.
The statements by the minister - who is also a national security adviser - at first glance contradict what President Trump has said. Asked about this, the Republican said that "I don't think we need help" from China to end the crisis that began when the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic began on February 28, despite the fact that indirect talks through Pakistan appear to have reached an impasse.
The strait has been virtually paralyzed since then, while the US military has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in retaliation.
Beijing is among Tehran's most important trading and strategic partners and is the largest importer of Iranian crude oil exports.
