Beijing, March 16 China called on all sides to immediately halt military operations in West Asia on Monday, in response to US President Donald Trump's call for other countries, including Beijing, to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open for international transport.
The effective closure of the vital waterway by Iran in retaliation for airstrikes by the US and Israel has proven catastrophic for global energy and trade flows, causing the largest oil supply disruption and soaring global oil prices.
China also said it is in talks with the US about Trump's planned visit to Beijing later this month.
Regarding Trump's call to China and other countries to deploy warships to keep the strait "open and safe," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here that the recent tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters have impacted the flow of goods and international energy, and have damaged regional peace and global stability.
Again, China calls on all sides to immediately halt military operations to avoid further escalation of tensions and prevent regional turbulence from having a larger impact on the world's economic growth, Lin said.
Regarding Trump's comment that he may delay his visit to China at the end of the month, apparently linking his visit to Beijing's response to his appeal to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open, Lin said both Beijing and Washington are in talks about the US President's visit.
China and the United States are in communication with each other regarding Trump's China visit, Lin said, adding that head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic leading role in China-US relations.
In an interview on Sunday with the Financial Times, Trump said China's reliance on oil from West Asia means it has to help with a new coalition he is trying to put together to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait after Iran's threats have throttled global flows of oil.
"We’d like to know” before the trip whether Beijing will help. “We may delay,” Trump said in the interview.
Trump in a social media post this weekend urged countries including China, the UK, France, and Japan to deploy warships to keep the strait "open and safe".
China, a close ally of Iran and recipient of Iranian oil supplies at cheaper costs, has condemned the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and criticised the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in American airstrikes.