Trump leaves China without resolution on ending Iran war

Donald Trump departed China today without securing a major trade breakthrough or concrete backing from Beijing to help bring the Iran war to an end, capping a two-day visit marked more by lavish ceremony and warm words for Xi Jinping than by substantive gains.

The trip to America’s principal strategic and economic rival — the first by a US president since his ⁠own visit in 2017 — was meant to produce tangible outcomes that could bolster Mr Trump as he confronts slipping approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections.

Though the summit unfolded amid choreographed spectacle, from goose-stepping soldiers to strolls through a secluded garden, the private exchanges were far more pointed. Behind closed doors, Mr Xi warned Mr Trump that any misstep over Taiwan, China’s most sensitive issue, could trigger conflict.

Speaking with reporters on the flight back to the US, Mr Trump said Mr Xi had told him he opposed Taiwan’s independence.

He said he would soon decide on a pending arms sale to Taiwan after speaking with “the person that right now is … running Taiwan”.

The remarks were his first notably unscripted comments after two days in Beijing, where he had largely kept a rare public discipline, reserving most of his off-the-cuff observations for praise of Mr Xi’s hospitality, stature and personal warmth.

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“It’s been an incredible visit. I think a lot of good has come of it,” Mr Trump told Mr Xi during their final meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound.

Yet while Mr Trump looked for immediate commercial deliverables — including a Boeing jet deal that failed to excite investors — Mr Xi cast the visit in broader terms, promoting a longer-term reset and an agreement to keep trade ties with Washington stable, highlighting the gap between their objectives.

Mr Xi also advanced a new description for bilateral ties, calling for “constructive strategic stability” — a ‌clear break from the “strategic competition” language favoured by former US President Joe Biden, a formulation ⁠Beijing had long opposed.

“Until now, China hasn’t proposed an alternative – now they have – if the US side agrees, that is progress,” said Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Mr Xi is expected to make a state visit to the US in autumn, China’s top diplomat said, according to state media, just hours after Mr Trump left China.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to the United States in autumn this year at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi said on Friday,” Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

No help on Iran

A short US readout of yesterday’s talks stressed what the White House described as a shared interest in reopening the Strait of Hormuz off Iran, as well as Mr Xi’s interest in buying more American oil to reduce China’s reliance on the Middle East.

But shortly before the two leaders sat down for tea today, China’s foreign ministry issued a pointed statement laying out its unhappiness with the war.

“This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue,” the ministry said, adding that China supported attempts to secure a peace agreement in a war that had disrupted energy supplies and shaken the global economy.

Donald Trump said he was not ‘asking for any favours’ on Iran

At Zhongnanhai, Mr Trump said the two leaders ‌had discussed Iran and held “very similar” views, though Mr Xi offered no public comment of his own.

On the journey home, Mr Trump added that he was not “asking for any favours” on Iran.

Even so, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had called on Beijing to use its influence with Tehran to help bring about a deal.

Analysts, however, say Mr Xi is unlikely to lean heavily on Tehran or cut off support for its military, given Iran’s importance to ⁠Beijing as a strategic counterweight to the US.

“What’s notable is that there’s no Chinese commitment to do anything specific with regards to Iran,” said Patricia Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Iran says it does not trust the Americans

The war has increasingly become a political burden ⁠for Mr Trump ahead of key ‌US midterm elections in November.

China has rejected reports that it planned to supply weapons to Iran, dismissing them as “groundless smears”, though analysts remain doubtful that Mr Xi would move decisively against Tehran or halt support for its military because of the role Iran plays as a strategic counterweight to the US.

Negotiations aimed at ending the war, with Pakistan acting as mediator, have been stalled since last week, when both Iran and the US rejected each other’s latest proposals.

Iran would welcome any Chinese involvement, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said today, adding that Tehran was still trying to give diplomacy a chance but did not trust the US.

Abbas Araqchi said that Tehran was trying to give diplomacy a chance

Iran ⁠is ready both for a renewed outbreak of fighting and for a diplomatic path forward, Mr Araqchi said, repeating that ships not connected to states attacking his country could still pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Before the war, roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, ⁠along with fertilizer and other crucial supplies, moved through the narrow waterway.

Shipping attacks have halted almost all traffic, although a large Chinese tanker and another vessel linked to Japan made it through the strait on Wednesday.

The UAE said it would accelerate construction of a new pipeline to its Fujairah port just outside the strait after a ship bound there was sunk this week and another was seized and redirected to Iran.

Lebanon talks aim to extend ceasefire

Thousands of Iranians were killed in US and Israeli air strikes, and thousands more have died in renewed fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

With a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon set to expire on Sunday, talks between Lebanese and Israeli officials were due to resume today.

Hezbollah opposes the negotiations, in which Israeli officials are insisting on the group’s disarmament.

Mr Trump says his objectives in launching the war are to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, eliminate its ability to attack neighbouring states and make ‌it easier for Iranians to topple their government.

Iran is demanding sanctions relief, compensation for war damage and recognition of its control over the strait.