China has made clear that it condemns the US-Israeli attack on Iran, saying the war should have never started, but is now signaling strong support to Pakistani-mediated efforts at finding peace.
Beijing has commented on the Pakistani offer to host US-Iran talks aimed at ending the war, with Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian telling reporters in Beijing: "Ceasefire and peace talks are more important tasks at hand." The statement comes amid fresh reports that Tehran has rejected an initial 15-point draft plan delivered by Islamabad.
"China supports all efforts conducive to easing tensions, de-escalating the situation and restoring dialogue," the statement added.
On Iran's continued control of the Strait of Hormuz, Lin said: "Maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East and keeping shipping routes safe serves the common interests of the international community."
Iran has said "non-hostile" vessels can still pass through the Strait of Hormuz - of course largely with its main crude buyer China in mind - even as traffic through the chokepoint collapses and fuels what's shaping up to be the worst global energy shock in decades.
In a statement Tuesday delivered to the United Nations, Tehran said ships may use "safe passage" - but only if they "neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran" and strictly adhere to its security rules, which has included reports of paying a $2 million passage fee.
Also on Tuesday, Chinese Special Envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun said at a briefing after his shuttle-diplomacy trip that included recent stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait that the US-Israeli operation against Iran must immediately cease or else a "vicious cycle" toward destabilizing the region and disrupt global trade would persist.
"Should hostilities continue to escalate and the situation deteriorate further, the entire region will be plunged into chaos. The use of force will only lead to a vicious cycle… the war should not have begun in the first place," Zhai declared.
It was only days ago that President Trump called on China and Japan to assist in getting the Hormuz Strait back open, but something which especially China has little incentive to do on a military front, as its instead content to watch the US get bogged down in a quagmire amid Tehran's unexpected resilience under the bombs. China itself presumably also already had guarantees of safe passage directly from Tehran.
Iran's foreign minister meanwhile held a phone call with China's foreign minister on Tuesday, per Bloomberg: "Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called on all parties in the Iran war to seize every opportunity and window for peace and start peace talks as soon as possible, Xinhua reports. Wang made the appeal in a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi."
China has long been a powerful ally of Tehran providing with diplomatic cover, institutional support, military cooperation and an economic lifeline - especially as its major oil buyer; however, China is not expected to go further with any kind of direct military support.
There are claims that it could be, alongside Russia, providing some intelligence support though. If this is the case, there is not much Washington can do about it - also as the White House response to widespread reports of Russian intelligence-sharing has been met with some pretty mild and meager statements out of the White House.