Trump and Xi appear intent on keeping deep differences over Iran war from overshadowing China summit

President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner for members of his administration and law enforcement organization leaders, during National Police Week, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, May 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2026-05-12T04:01:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday is set to leave for Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month old war — or at the very least, reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.Trump has veered between venting that China, the world’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, hasn’t done more to get the Islamic Republic in line, and acknowledging that Xi’s government helped de-escalate the conflict last month by nudging Tehran back to ceasefire talks when negotiations wobbled.But ahead of the U.S. leader’s high-stakes visit, the White House has set low expectations that Trump will be able to persuade Xi to change China’s posture.Instead, the administration seems determined not to let differences on Iran overshadow efforts to make headway on other difficult matters in the complicated relationship — ranging from trade to further Chinese cooperation to block exports of fentanyl precursors.“We don’t want this to be something that derails the broader relationship or the agreements that might come out of our meeting in Beijing,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Bloomberg TV last week. US administration sanctioned China ahead of the tripBeijing publicly insists that it wants to see the war end, and has been working diplomatically behind the scenes to help its ally Pakistan push to broker a peace agreement. It has also sent a “subtle message of discontent to Iran” for closing the Strait of Hormuz, and to the U.S. for its blockade of Iranian shipping, said Ahmed Aboudouh, a specialist on China’s influence in the Middle East with the London-based Chatham House think tank.“They are very cautious, risk-adverse, and they don’t want to be involved in anything that would drag them into something that they don’t consider their problem,” he said.In recent days, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have stepped up their calls for China to use its influence to help reopen the strait, through which about 20% of the world’s crude flowed before the war began. The State Department announced on Friday that it was sanctioning four entities, including three China-based firms, for providing sensitive satellite imagery that enables Iranian military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East. Earlier, the Treasury Department moved to target Chinese oil refineries accused of purchasing oil from Tehran, as well as shippers of the oil. The sanctions cut off the companies from the U.S. financial system and penalize anyone who does business with them. Read More Beijing has called the sanctions “illegal unilateral pressure” and enacted a blocking statute — passed in 2021 and never used until now — that prohibits any Chinese entity from recognizing or complying with the sanctions. Ahead of Trump’s arrival, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week hosted his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Beijing. The Chinese foreign minister used the moment to defend Iran’s right to develop civilian nuclear energy.Xi has also offered implicit criticism of the U.S. over the war. He has said that safeguarding international rule of law is paramount, adding it “must not be selectively applied or disregarded,” nor should the world be allowed to revert “to the law of the jungle.” Both China and the US want to avoid a return to a tariff warTrump on Monday downplayed differences with China over Iran and underscored that Xi wants to see the strait reopened. “He’d like to see it get done,” Trump said of the Chinese leader.Like Trump, Xi also has plenty of reason to not let differences over Iran impact other facets of the relationship, analysts say. China imports about half its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from Middle East countries affected by the closure of the strait, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.Beijing wants to guard against further deterioration of the U.S.-China relationship — something that would add further challenges to its economy. “I think for Xi, a win is continued stability without surrender,” said Craig Singleton, senior director for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ China program. “He wants the summit to validate China’s superpower status, preserve the tariff predictability, and to reaffirm that Washington has to deal with Beijing on Beijing’s terms.” Yet, since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes in late February, there have been difficult moments between Trump and Xi that threatened to set back the relative stability in their relationship.China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and

President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner for members of his administration and law enforcement organization leaders, during National Police Week, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, May 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2026-05-12T04:01:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday is set to leave for Beijing to meet with President…

President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner for members of his administration and law enforcement organization leaders, during National Police Week, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, May 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2026-05-12T04:01:06Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday is set to leave for Beijing to meet with President Xi Jinping after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month…