Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the Middle East crisis to be resolved through political and diplomatic means, telling King Abdullah II of Jordan that the sovereignty and security of countries in the region should be respected.
Xi made the remarks during talks in Beijing on Monday, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement. He said China had consistently advocated a comprehensive ceasefire and praised what he described as Jordan’s unique and important role in the region.
The two leaders signed several agreements covering diplomacy, trade and supply chains and issued a joint statement, the ministry said. That statement called for normal navigation through the Strait of Hormuz to be restored, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The waterway has been effectively closed since February 28, when the United States and Israel began striking Iran and Tehran moved against commercial shipping in response. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through it before the war.
The closure has fallen heavily on the European Union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in April that the conflict was costing the bloc close to €500 million a day in higher energy costs.
China, the largest buyer of Iranian crude, has presented itself as a neutral party and has positioned itself as a broker in the conflict while opposing Western sanctions on Tehran. Xi first called publicly for the strait to stay open in April, during a telephone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Jordan has been caught in the middle of Washington’s months-long war with Tehran. The US-allied kingdom has watched the fighting squeeze an economy that leans heavily on tourism and trade.
The state visit ran from August 18-24 and was Abdullah’s ninth to China since he took the throne in 1999. It was his first since 2015, and he also met Premier Li Qiang and travelled to Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Xi separately urged a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue, the foreign ministry said. He said China supported the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on the basis of a two-state solution.
Brussels has largely stayed out. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas ruled out extending the bloc’s Aspides naval mission into the Gulf, saying plainly that “this is not Europe’s war”, and the EU confined itself to sanctions adopted on May 22 over the closure of the strait.
