China calls U.S. blockade of Hormuz Strait ‘dangerous’

NEWS AND ANALYSIS:

The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted harshly to the American military blockade of Iranian shipping, calling the Trump administration’s escalation of the war “dangerous and irresponsible” but stopped short of threatening action against the U.S.

Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters that despite a temporary ceasefire, the U.S. “ramped up military deployment and resorted to a targeted blockade.”

The blockade will increase confrontation, escalate tensions and jeopardize ships, he said.

“It is a dangerous and irresponsible move,” Mr. Guo said, urging de-escalation and a normal flow of ship traffic as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, a U.S. destroyer stopped two Iranian oil tankers that sought to leave the port of Chabahar, Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. The tankers were warned against leaving by radio communication from the warship, a U.S. official told Reuters.

President Trump imposed the blockade after peace talks collapsed. The stated U.S. goal for the shipping ban is to force Iran to accept American terms for ending the war.

Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the Central Command, said in a statement Tuesday night that the blockade of Iranian ports was “fully implemented” with U.S. forces holding “maritime superiority” in the region.

“An estimated 90% of Iran’s economy is fueled by international trade by sea,” Adm. Cooper said. “In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”

“U.S. Sailors, Marines, and Airmen remain positioned and ready to act against any vessels seeking to violate the blockade,” the command said on X on Wednesday.

Iran on Wednesday threatened retaliation over the blockade.

“Iran’s powerful armed forces will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea,” said Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, a commander for the Iranian army and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The blockade is also expected to further diminish China’s large imports of oil following the loss of access to oil from Venezuela earlier in the year. China imports an estimated 11 million barrels of oil a day.

Beijing is also the biggest buyer of the oil that flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with an 38% of all shipments through the chokepoint ending up in China.

India receives about 15% of its oil through the strait, South Korea receives 12% and Japan receives 11%.

Mr. Guo, the Chinese spokesman, also denied that China is sending arms to Iran. He called news reports of the pending transfers “fabricated.”

The Hormuz blockade comes as Mr. Trump plans to visit China next month in pursuit of a trade deal with Beijing.

Mr. Trump said Sunday that if China is caught sending shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, he will impose a new, 50% tariff on Beijing.

“I hear news reports about China giving [Iran] the shoulder missiles … what’s called the shoulder missile, anti-aircraft missile. I doubt they would do that … but if we catch them doing that, they get a 50% tariff, which is a staggering — that’s a staggering amount,” Mr. Trump told Fox News.

The blockade was announced Monday by the Central Command. Military warships began blockading all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports, with U.S. warships preventing six merchant vessels from leaving ports so far, the command said.

One Chinese tanker under sanctions with a history of evading U.S. restrictions on Iranian oil appeared to do a U-turn to sail back into the Persian Gulf after trying to exit through the strait, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The blockade does not affect shipping to and from non-Iranian ports transiting the strait.

“Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception, diversion, and capture,” a CENTCOM notice to mariners said.

Mossad chief says Israel seeks regime change in Iran

The leader of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service said Tuesday that Israel will continue to work toward the ouster of the Islamic regime in Iran.

David Barnea, the head of the spy service, said in a speech that the war conducted jointly with the U.S. will not be finished until the current theocratic government is gone.

“Our mission has yet to be completed,” he said. “Our obligation will be discharged only after this extremist regime is replaced. This regime, which seeks our destruction, must pass from the world.”

President Trump initially called on Iranians to rise up and overthrow the 47-year-old Islamist regime in the opening hours of the war.

The Trump administration then scaled back rhetoric on regime change and its goals shortly after the war began. The new goals call for ending Iran’s nuclear program and halting support for terrorism.

Mr. Barnea, the outgoing spy chief, did not elaborate on what covert or clandestine steps Israel will take in pursuit of ending the current regime.

Mossad has a reputation as one of the world’s most effective and lethal intelligence services specializing in human spying operations.

One major achievement was the 2024 clandestine operation to sabotage pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

The operation involved setting up a communications company as a Mossad front that sold thousands of devices containing explosive material to Hezbollah.

The devices were remotely triggered, exploding on Sept. 17 and 18, 2024, killing 42 people and injuring more than 1,500 Hezbollah terrorists.

The Mossad leader’s comments come as U.S. and Iranian officials continue talks toward a peace agreement ending the five-week conflict amid a temporary ceasefire that ends next week.

Nationwide anti-regime protests in Iran in December led to a brutal crackdown by police and the deaths of an estimated 32,000 protesters.

Mr. Trump said on social media at one point during the crackdown that U.S. help was on the way.

The American military buildup in the region prior to Feb. 28, the date joint strikes were launched, began shortly after the Iranian crackdown.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said Sunday he believes an internal revolution in Iran is possible.

“The Mossad thought that, as we saw in January — hundreds of thousands and millions of people rise up — the potential for that happening again is even greater now,” Mr. Leiter told CBS News. “We still think that could materialize over the next couple of months. But there’s no guarantee.”

American diplomat calls on Beijing to halt military pressure on Taiwan

China must abandon threats and military pressure against Taiwan and seek talks with the self-ruled island’s leaders to avoid misunderstandings and stabilize ties, according to the senior U.S. diplomat in Taiwan.

Raymond Greene, the de facto U.S. ambassador who heads the official American Institute in Taiwan, said U.S. policy consistently seeks to promote exchanges across the tense, 100-mile Taiwan Strait separating the nations.

“However, we also expect China — Beijing — to maintain open communication channels with all of Taiwan’s political parties, especially the leaders elected by the Taiwanese people, in order to avoid misunderstandings and to stabilize cross-strait relations,” Mr. Greene said, speaking in Chinese on a Taiwan political talk show Saturday.

“We further expect China to abandon threats against Taiwan or military pressure. I believe this would help ease cross-strait tensions,” he said.

China is refusing all dialogue with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, claiming he is a “separatist.”

The comments came as Taiwan opposition political party leader Cheng Li-wun met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week.

Ms. Cheng was the first leader of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) Party to visit China in a decade.

China has sharply increased military and propaganda pressure on Taiwan under successive Democratic Progressive Party presidents in recent years, including Mr. Lai.

Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province while the DPP maintains Taiwan is a separate, non-Chinese entity. The opposition KMT, which fled the mainland in the 1949 civil war against the communists, views its party as the legitimate government of all China.

Mr. Greene said the U.S. supports cross-strait dialogue but must also maintain “sufficient deterrence capability.”

“There are three ways to resolve cross-strait differences: the first is dialogue, the second is coercion and the third is war. So if Taiwan can have sufficient deterrence capability, it can take the option of war off the table.”

On Tuesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office dismissed the diplomat’s comments as a “distortion.”

“Certain people on the U.S. side are jumping up and down, continuously rehashing the so-called ’mainland threat’ or ’military pressure,’” Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters.

This is “a complete distortion of the facts and harbors malicious intentions,” he said, asserting that Taiwan was an internal affair for China and will not permit outside interference.

China has not renounced the use of force to annex Taiwan and tensions remain high over a declaration by Mr. Xi that the People’s Liberation Army should be prepared for military action against the island by next year.

Xi: China seeks closer strategic links to Russia

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that Beijing wants stronger strategic relations with Russia to defend joint interests and support “Global South” nations.

The comments by the Chinese leader came during a meeting in Beijing with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, state media reported.

Mr. Xi said ties with Moscow were “precious” in light of a chaotic and changing international situation, an oblique reference to the conflict in Iran.

Russian state media quoted Mr. Lavrov as saying Moscow and Beijing cannot agree with Western efforts to preserve “global dominance.”

“Blatant attempts by the West, both the United States and Europe, to maintain and even upgrade its hegemony … including the slave trade, colonialism … continue living [are] … at the expense of others,” he said.

Russia and China reviewed efforts at greater cooperation that will protect against sanctions and other “illegal methods, coercion, blackmail, dictation.”

• Contact Bill Gertz on X @BillGertz.