Trump–Xi Summit Shifts Focus to Iran as Strait of Hormuz Tensions Escalate: Insiders

As Trump prepares to visit Beijing, insiders say growing concerns over Iran and global energy security have moved ahead of trade on the summit agenda.
Trump–Xi Summit Shifts Focus to Iran as Strait of Hormuz Tensions Escalate: Insiders
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump (R) attend talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Gimhae Air Base, located next to the Gimhae International Airport in Busan, on Oct. 30, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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As President Donald Trump prepares for his first visit to China since 2017, tensions surrounding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz have moved to the center of the agenda, according to insiders familiar with preparations for the summit.

Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing from May 14 to 15 for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping amid growing tensions over trade, Taiwan, and regional security. According to multiple insiders in Beijing, the worsening crisis surrounding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz has unexpectedly transformed the summit from a trade-focused meeting into a broader negotiation on global energy security and geopolitical stability.

“The issue is not just the conflict in the Middle East,” a Beijing-based insider from within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) told The Epoch Times. “This has become a question of global energy transportation and communications security.”