President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US had requested that his trip to China be delayed by “a month or so”, citing the war in Iran.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he did not know if he planned to travel to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of the month as previously scheduled.
“I would love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I think. So we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so,” Trump said.
“It’s very simple. We’re fighting a war. I think it’s important that I’m here so we can delay a little, not much,” he said.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s comments.
The Trump administration began casting doubt on the trip earlier in the day when Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said it might not go ahead as planned. Bessant said any delay was not a ploy to pressure Beijing to engage with the Strait of Hormuz.
Besant appeared to be citing an article in The Financial Times, which reported that Trump said in an interview that China wanted to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and wanted to know before the planned summit.
The Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, has been essentially closed since the start of the war after several ships were attacked. Iran has threatened to attack ships in transit along its coastal border, creating chaos in global markets.
Trump, who said last week that the US had destroyed 28 ships capable of laying mines, wants other countries to help reopen the shipping channel. In a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump said several countries would help secure the strait, and in a post on TruthSocial he said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and “other” countries would offer their help.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he expects China to be a “constructive partner.” But a spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Washington told CNN that China wanted to end hostilities without addressing Trump’s request.
China, the world’s biggest energy importer, which considers Iran an ally, has condemned the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, saying they are “violating international law” and has defended Iran’s sovereignty.
China gets half of its oil from the Middle East, meaning a blocked strait could seriously affect its economy. The Associated Press reported last week that ships passing through the strait have begun identifying themselves as connected to China to avoid being attacked. Besant said some ships, including Chinese ships, are successfully crossing the strait.
