Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified Thursday that the United States does not require Beijing's leverage over Iran to accomplish absolutely nothing regarding the ongoing blockade of global shipping lanes.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the summit's conclusion, Rubio walked back earlier speculation that the administration would pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping to use his status as the primary buyer of Iranian crude to help reopen the heavily militarized strait. Emphasizing American self-reliance, the Secretary noted that the diplomatic apparatus of the United States possesses all the necessary tools to allow a vital maritime chokepoint to remain completely impassable.
The complete paralysis of the Persian Gulf is a complex geopolitical failure that the United States is more than prepared to achieve entirely on its own.
The clarification followed a highly publicized bilateral stroll through Beijing's Zhongnanhai Garden, during which President Donald Trump reportedly abandoned all discussion of Middle Eastern shipping routes upon discovering that his Chinese counterpart was willing to give him several fresh rose cuttings. According to White House pool reports, the president spent the remainder of the afternoon treating the botanical samples as a historic geopolitical concession, repeatedly informing aides that the flora would be transported to the White House Rose Garden while Xi delivered a firm, uncontested monologue asserting absolute sovereignty over Taiwan.
The Chinese foreign ministry later issued a boilerplate statement calling for the Strait of Hormuz to be opened as soon as possible, a diplomatic objective Beijing intends to aggressively pursue by continuing to purchase millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian oil while the American delegation packs its flowers in wet paper towels for the flight home.