The US and China have agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should not be militarized, US State Secretary Marco Rubio said Thursday as the leaders of the two countries met in Beijing.
In an interview with NBC News, Rubio stated: “The Chinese side said they are not in favor of militarizing the Straits of Hormuz, and they’re not in favor of a tolling system, and that’s our position.”
“We are not immune to global oil prices at some point, because we do buy from the global market, but other countries around the world are paying a much higher price,” Rubio said, not referring to China specifically. “They’ve got to get involved in this as well,” he said, noting that the US president “didn’t ask him for anything” and adding: “We’re not asking for China’s help. We don’t need their help.”
The Iran war delayed US President Donald Trump’s China trip by six weeks. China, a close Iranian ally, criticized the US and Israeli strikes that began on Feb. 28 and has called for diplomacy.
Rubio said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Iran should not develop nuclear weapons.
Rubio also defended Trump’s remarks that he was “not even a little bit” concerned about the financial pressures Americans are facing during Iran negotiations.
“What the president’s making clear is, if the Iranians think that they are going to use our domestic politics to pressure him into a bad deal, that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Taiwan was also a major issue, one of the most sensitive topics in US-China relations.
Xi warned Trump that Taiwan tensions could damage ties and lead to “clashes and even conflicts” if mishandled, according to Beijing’s account of the talks.
“Our policies on that have not changed,” Rubio said, referring to Taiwan. “It’s been pretty consistent across multiple presidential administrations, and remains consistent now.”
Rubio said US arms sales to Taiwan “did not feature prominently” in the Trump-Xi talks.
In December, the Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, believed to be the largest ever, with a larger one possibly in the works.
“From our perspective, any forced change in the status quo and the situation that’s there now would be bad for both countries,” Rubio said.
