Thinking About China
Opinion

The Blockade of Iran Forced China to Decrease Oil Imports

This demonstrates an Achilles’ heel of the regime in Beijing: an international oil blockade of China
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The Blockade of Iran Forced China to Decrease Oil Imports
An oil tanker unloads imported crude oil at the Qingdao Port Oil Terminal in Qingdao, China, on April 12, 2026. Getty Images Staff/Getty Images
Anders Corr
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Commentary

As the war with Iran distracted the United States and Europe is focused on Russia, China exploited the situation to increase its belligerence against Japan and maritime claims around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. But the Iran war also included a blockade of Iran, which forced China to reduce its oil imports.

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Anders Corr
Anders Corr
Author
Anders Corr has a bachelor’s/master’s in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc. and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. His latest books are “The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy, and Hegemony” (2021) and “Great Powers, Grand Strategies: the New Game in the South China Sea” (2018).
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