Fatimah Otunsanya
United States President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China has agreed not to send weapons to its close partner Iran and that he has received personal assurances from leader Xi Jinping.
“They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran. President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referring to his planned May 14-15 summit with Xi in Beijing.
Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo in a separate interview aired Wednesday that Xi had “essentially” promised not to deliver weapons.
“I had heard that China’s giving weapons to, I mean — you’re seeing it all over the place — to Iran,” Trump said.
“And I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that, and he wrote me a letter saying that essentially he’s not doing that.”
The conflict in the Middle East has added tension to the already complicated relationship between the world’s top economic powers.
The Trump-Xi summit had originally been scheduled for March but was delayed due to Trump’s decision to launch the war.
China accused the United States on Tuesday of “dangerous and irresponsible” behavior over its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, with Xi vowing Beijing would play a “constructive role” in promoting peace in the Middle East.
In his Truth Social post, Trump insisted that “China is very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. I am doing it for them, also – And the World.”
China is Iran’s biggest trading partner and a major client for the country’s oil.
Trump was asked in the Fox interview about reports that China had recently conducted a major cyber attack against the FBI. He did not directly confirm the report, but said: “We do it to them. They do it to us.”
“China’s China,” he said. “They’re never easy, but we’re doing great with China.”
Trump said he was “the toughest person” on China.
AFP
