The White House announced that US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed during their meeting in Beijing on Thursday on the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, while the Iranian Fars News Agency quoted an informed source as saying that Tehran had begun allowing some Chinese ships to pass through the strait, after reaching an understanding on protocols for managing the waterway.
The agency added that 30 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz with Tehran's approval.
The US presidency noted that “both sides agreed on the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to support the free flow of energy products” and that Xi expressed China’s opposition to the “militarization” of the Strait of Hormuz and the imposition of any transit fees in it, in addition to agreeing that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.
The White House quoted the Chinese president as expressing interest in purchasing more American oil in an effort to reduce Beijing's reliance on imports passing through the Strait of Hormuz. China, however, made no mention of such interest in its account of the meeting.
The White House described the meeting as “good” in a statement that made no mention of Taiwan. Xi had previously warned that “the two countries could clash or even engage in conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a very dangerous situation” if Washington, Taiwan’s main backer, “wrongly” handles the issue.
The ministry reported that Xi Jinping and Trump “exchanged views on major international and regional issues, in particular the situations in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula,” without giving further details.
She noted that “President Trump had a good meeting with the Chinese President,” during which “the two sides discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries.”
For his part, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent said today that China would benefit from the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and expressed his belief that Beijing would do its utmost to open the waterway.
He added in an interview with CNBC: “I think they will do what they can… It is in China’s best interest to open the Strait, and I think they will work behind the scenes with anyone who has influence over the Iranian leadership.”
Xi to Trump: Mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to conflict
The Chinese president had received his American counterpart with an official ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where talks between the two sides began amid global anticipation of their results and repercussions on international relations.
Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Donald Trump today that trade talks were making progress, but warned that the dispute over Taiwan could push relations down a dangerous path and even into conflict.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Xi's remarks about Taiwan, a democratically governed island that China says is part of its territory, came during a closed-door meeting that lasted more than two hours between the leaders of the world's two largest economies.
These remarks represented a strongly worded, if not unprecedented, warning during an official event that appeared friendly and relaxed, but Taiwan was not mentioned in the US statement about the talks.
“It is an honor to be with you. It is an honor to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the United States will be better than ever,” Trump said during the meeting, adding that the two countries would have “a great future.”
Trump wrote on social media before heading to China: “I will ask President Xi to open up China so that these brilliant people can exercise their creativity and help elevate the People’s Republic of China to a higher level!”
China preempted Trump's arrival by announcing that it would "welcome" him, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakon confirmed during a press briefing that "China is ready to work with the United States to expand cooperation and deal with differences."
Other issues on the agenda for the two presidents include Chinese restrictions on rare earth exports, competition in the field of artificial intelligence, and strained trade relations between the two countries.
But Trump’s ambitions to boost trade between the world’s two largest economies are accompanied by political tensions over Taiwan and the war with Iran, which caused the postponement of the visit originally scheduled for last March.
The US president arrived in China on a two-day visit aboard the presidential plane late Wednesday, accompanied by a group of influential business leaders including Nvidia CEO Jin-Sun Huang and Elon Musk, in an indication that Trump's visit will focus on trade and business.
Trump was warmly received upon his arrival, with 300 young Chinese men and women dressed in white waving small Chinese and American flags in perfect harmony.
Trump and Xi are scheduled to have tea and a working lunch on Friday before the US president returns to Washington.
Both sides will seek to emerge from the summit with any possible gains, while simultaneously working to stabilize the strained relationship between Beijing and Washington, which has global repercussions.
Trump invited his Chinese counterpart to visit the White House on September 24, during a state banquet hosted by Xi in Trump's honor in Beijing.
This trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, since Trump’s visit to China in 2017, which was accompanied by his wife Melania, unlike this time.
Following that first visit, Trump imposed a series of tariffs and restrictions on Chinese goods. He repeated this after returning to the White House last year, sparking a trade dispute before Xi and Trump agreed to a truce in October.
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