What the U.S.-Iran War Means for China

The past three Presidents have all made noises about “pivoting to Asia” and reorienting American foreign policy around competition with China. But, in a darkly literal metaphor for the failure of the United States to adequately address China’s growing influence, President Donald Trump postponed an April summit with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping because of the war he launched against Iran in February. Iran is China’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, but China’s diverse energy sources have shielded it from the heavy economic toll and energy crisis that the war has caused for other countries in East Asia. China has called for a ceasefire, and recently said that the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened; American officials have said that U.S. intelligence agencies may have found evidence that China is sending offensive weapons to Iran.I recently spoke by phone with Jonathan Czin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, who also served in the Biden Administration as the director for China at the National Security Council. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed how the warmth of China-Iran relations has been overstated, why China sees the Trump Administration