US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that Washington will seek to persuade China to play a more active role in resolving the conflict related to Iran, in conjunction with US President Donald Trump preparing to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Rubio explained, during an interview with Fox News from aboard Air Force One while heading to China, that the United States presented to Beijing its arguments regarding the need to engage in efforts to calm the escalating tensions with Iran.
He said: “It is in their interest to resolve this conflict. We hope to convince them to play a more active role in pushing Iran to abandon what it is doing and trying to do now in the Gulf.”
He added: “We presented our arguments to the Chinese side, and I hope they will be convincing, and that they will have an opportunity to act on this at the United Nations later this week.”
Rubio considered that China’s assistance to the United States in the Iran file is in its economic interest, despite the strategic relations between Beijing and Tehran, noting that Chinese ships are still stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, which exacerbates the pressure on the Chinese economy.
He said: “The Chinese economy depends on production and export, not on domestic consumption. Economies are collapsing due to this crisis in the Strait. Purchase of Chinese products will decrease, and Chinese exports will witness a sharp decline.”
The meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping is the first meeting of its kind between an American president and the Chinese president since Trump’s visit to China 9 years ago.
Rubio also spoke about the need to achieve a balance in US policy towards China, noting that Washington seeks at the same time to curb Beijing’s influence as a geopolitical competitor, and maintain a stable relationship with it to avoid wars and maintain global stability.
He said: “China represents the greatest political challenge for us on the geopolitical level, and it is also the most important relationship that we must manage.”
The summit between Trump and Xi is expected to address the issues of artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and trade, in addition to tensions related to Iran, in light of Washington’s adherence to what Rubio described as a “non-nuclear Iran.”
The American minister added: “There are files that are extremely important to the United States and we will have to raise them, and there may be some areas of cooperation as well, and we want to make sure that they are not abandoned.”
