China's Wang Yi urges 'comprehensive ceasefire' in U.S.–Iran conflict after Beijing talks
China’s foreign minister on Wednesday called for a comprehensive ceasefire in the conflict between the United States and Iran, saying Beijing is “deeply distressed” by more than two months of fighting. The appeal came after Wang Yi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing on May 6.
Wang urged an urgent halt to hostilities during Araghchi’s first visit to China since the war with the U.S. and Israel began on February 28. His comments echoed growing diplomatic concern over the trajectory of the conflict and its spillover effects. China’s close economic and political ties with Tehran position it as an influential interlocutor.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he hopes Chinese officials would raise the Strait of Hormuz with Iran during this week’s visit. The Trump administration is pressing Beijing to use its relationship with Tehran to urge the Islamic Republic to open the waterway.
Wang’s remarks followed an earlier statement by U.S. President Donald Trump that he was pausing a short-lived U.S. effort to guide stranded commercial vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz in hopes a deal could be finalized. A shaky ceasefire has been largely holding, despite exchanges of fire during the U.S.
push to reopen the strait on Monday. Iran’s effective closure of the passage — a vital route for major oil and gas supplies, fertilizer and other petroleum products before the war — has sent fuel prices soaring, rattled the global economy and heaped economic pressure on many countries, including China.
Wang’s call for a comprehensive ceasefire comes amid stalled efforts to end the fighting. Diplomats on all sides face the immediate test of stabilizing the fragile truce and finding a path to reopening the strait.