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US President Donald Trump departed Beijing on May 15 after a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that highlighted how the war in Iran is reshaping the contours of their relationship and testing whether the rivals can coordinate to tackle global crises.
The meeting, Trump’s first visit to China since 2017, was initially expected to focus heavily on trade disputes, tariffs, and technology restrictions. Instead, the war in Iran and fears over global energy disruptions took center stage.
"We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar about [how] we want it to end," Trump told reporters on May 15 while sitting next to Xi. "We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the strait open," he added, referring to the almost total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that normally carries roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies.
