Tankers, talks and Trump's 'dangerous' blockade: China's Iran war involvement gets louder

Middle East ConflictTankers, talks and Trump's 'dangerous' blockade: China's Iran war involvement gets louderAfter weeks of playing a quiet role in the conflict, Beijing made its most significant public intervention to date Tuesday as it faces growing pressure to use its influence on Tehran to help end the war. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Add NBC News to GoogleChinese ship passes through the Strait of Hormuz despite blockade00:44Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 14, 2026, 2:07 PM EDT / Updated April 14, 2026, 2:13 PM EDTBy Jennifer Jett and Mithil AggarwalHONG KONG — China has been a quiet — if crucial — player in the Iran war, as U.S. military action upends the global economy.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.That changed Tuesday, as Beijing assailed the American blockade of Iranian ports as “dangerous and irresponsible,” while leader Xi Jinping warned against a return to the “law of the jungle.” This public intervention was its most significant to date as China, which has close ties with Iran, faces growing pressure to use its influence to bring an end to the war. Some of that pressure is coming from the U.S. military's blockade, which has alarmed the world’s largest importer of crude oil. More than half of China's energy comes through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies. “Such actions will only intensify contradictions, exacerbate tensions, undermine the already fragile ceasefire, and further jeopardize the security of navigation through the strait,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters Tuesday of the U.S. blockade. “This is dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”China has been critical of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as well as Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Gulf states, calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. President Donald Trump was among th...