Iran war may give China, Xi, some leverage on Trump at Beijing summit

The U.S. war against Iran threatens to be a dark cloud following President Trump to his high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. 

Trump is expected to meet with Xi on Thursday and Friday in a trip postponed because of the war from early April. This time, Trump plans to travel to Beijing, even as the progress on a deal with Tehran appears to unravel.

Experts watching the meeting closely say both sides want it to go forward.

“The priority at this point is having the summit take place, having the two of them meet face-to-face,” said Alison Szalwinski, vice president at the Asia Group. “And ensuring that U.S.-China relations are on stable footing. That’s the priority, even as Iran continues to loom.”

Trump and Xi, who most recently met face-to-face in Busan, South Korea, in October, are expected to discuss Beijing’s focus on continued access to U.S. technology and Trump’s pursuit of China’s purchase of American products, such as Boeing jets. China’s role in America’s fentanyl crisis, artificial intelligence and China’s claim to Taiwan are just some of the other major issues of the summit. 

Some say the war with Iran, which has led to high gas prices in the U.S. and around the world, leaves Trump at a disadvantage with Xi at the summit.

“The idea of an American president going to a summit with our foremost competitor at a time where he has just experienced, I think, the most catastrophic strategic debacle in recent memory, is going to be a striking moment,” said Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. “From a U.S. perspective, this absolutely changes the sense of our ascendence at this point in time.” 

Trump and the U.S. remain bogged down in Iran, which has prevented vessels from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, entangling 20 percent of the world’s oil supply in the process.

While the U.S. has battered Iran militarily, it has been unable to open the strait. Trump has repeatedly signaled a desire to end the fighting in recent weeks.

While China is the top importer of Iranian oil........

© The Hill