Trump, Xi agree that the Strait of Hormuz “must remain open,” White House says

President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping met Thursday and agreed that the Strait of Hormuz “must remain open” and that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon,” according to the White House.

The Iran war had been slated to be one of the main topics of the highly-anticipated summit between Xi and Mr. Trump – Iran expressed publicly a desire for China to reiterate its terms for a possible peace deal with the U.S.

“The two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy,” read a White House readout of Thursday’s meeting.

“President Xi also made clear China’s opposition to the militarization of the Strait and any effort to charge a toll for its use, and he expressed interest in purchasing more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the Strait in the future. Both countries agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Prior to the meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Fox News that “we’ve made clear to them that any support for Iran would obviously be detrimental for our relationship.” He argued that China has an interest in resolving the Iran conflict’s impacts on oil shipments, and “we hope to convince them to play a more active role.”

The readout made no mention of Taiwan, though Chinese media are reporting that Xi raised the topic.