Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained Tuesday that he hopes to convince China to “play a more active role” in persuading Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’ve made the argument to the Chinese, and I hope it’s compelling, and they’ll have a chance to do something about it at the United Nations later this week when there’s a resolution just condemning Iran on what they’re doing with the straits,” Rubio said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” that will air Wednesday evening.
“Look, there’s three things,” the secretary of state continued. “The Chinese have ships stuck in the Persian Gulf. Because setting up a system that says we’re going to let certain ships through but others not, it’s easier said than done.”
Rubio’s second point was the “instability” in the Persian Gulf “threatens to destabilize Asia more than any other part of the world because it’s heavily reliant on the straits for energy.”
“And the third reason,” the secretary of state added, “is because China’s economy is export-driven, meaning their economy is fueled not by what they consume domestically, but by what they make and sell to other countries.”
“Well, of all the countries of the world, economies are melting down because of this crisis in the straits. They’re going to be buying less Chinese product and the Chinese exports are going to drop precipitously,” he warned.
“So it’s in their interest to resolve this,” Rubio said. “We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they’re doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf.”
Following US-Israeli joint strikes in Iran on Feb. 28, the Islamic Republic shut down the Strait of Hormuz – violently blocking commercial ships from transiting the narrow waterway, which in a typical year, sees over a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies pass through it.
In response, the US Navy has implemented a blockade of Iranian ships and ports, choking off the regime’s access to global trade through the strait.
Despite China’s close ties with Iran, the communist country is not immune to Islamic Republic’s attacks in the Persian Gulf, Rubio argued.
“[Y]ou saw a Chinese, not a Chinese-flagged vessel, but it was Chinese cargo, got hit over the weekend,” the top US diplomat told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
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“I’m sure Iran didn’t do it deliberately but they did it, it happened. And so that’s why these Chinese ships are stuck in there.”
Rubio is one of the top administration officials accompanying President Trump on his historic visit to Beijing this week.
Trump is slated to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday night and lead a bilateral meeting with the two delegations.
“It’s both our top political challenge, geopolitically, and it’s also the most important relationship for us to manage,” Rubio said of China.
“I mean, it’s a big, powerful country that’s going to continue to grow, but we’re going to have interests of ours that are going to be in conflict with interests of theirs – and to avoid wars and maintain peace and stability in the world we’re going to have to manage those,” he explained.
“There are clearly areas where they’re so important for the United States that we’re going to have to raise those issues, and we’ll continue to do so, the president’s going to continue to do so.”
Rubio noted there also might be “areas of cooperation, too,” which the Trump administration wants to “make sure we don’t walk away from.”
