As the conflict with Iran stretches into its fifth week, Beijing has launched an intensive diplomatic offensive aimed at positioning itself as a central peace broker while Washington remains on the sidelines. At the center of China’s effort is a joint five-point plan developed with Pakistan that calls for an immediate halt to hostilities and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The proposal stands in direct opposition to a United Nations initiative backed by Bahrain, which would authorize the use of force to reopen the strait. China has argued against allowing the Security Council to endorse military action, warning it could “add fuel to the fire” rather than ease tensions. Alongside Russia, Beijing has expressed concern that a UN-backed mechanism could be exploited to escalate the conflict further.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been the focal point of this diplomatic push. Since the war began, he has held conversations with counterparts from Russia, Oman, Iran, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. He has engaged in more than 20 phone calls with regional foreign ministers, dispatched a special envoy to countries across the Middle East, and hosted his Pakistani counterpart in Beijing to finalize their joint proposal.
Wang has also reached out to European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who was told the plan reflects “broad, international consensus.” In a conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Wang emphasized that stopping the fighting was the most urgent priority. This week, he spoke with Bahrain’s foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, to explain Beijing’s objections to the UN force proposal. In response, Bahrain significantly watered down its resolution to authorize only defensive — not offensive — action for safe transit, with a vote delayed until next week.
China has also been negotiating directly with Tehran to allow Chinese-flagged vessels to pass through the strait, where Iran’s control has driven energy prices sharply higher.
How Washington Views Beijing’s Push
The Trump administration has shown little appetite for China’s mediation. Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration has soured on third-party mediation and sees little benefit in elevating China’s international profile or handing Beijing a diplomatic win in the Middle East.
One official described the U.S. stance on the Chinese-Pakistani plan as “agnostic” — neither endorsing nor rejecting it — though all three noted that could shift if Trump weighs in before his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-May. The summit was already postponed from late March due to the demands of the war.
“There is no guarantee that Trump may not delay the trip to China again if the war rages on,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center.
Danny Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat now with the Asia Society Policy Institute, characterized China’s efforts as “performative,” drawing a parallel to its 12-point Ukraine peace plan from 2023 that, he said, was “filled with platitudes but never acted on.”
“Its narrative is that while Washington is reckless, aggressive and heedless of the cost to others, China is a principled and responsible champion of peace,” Russel said. “What we are seeing from China is messaging, not mediation.”
U.S. officials also noted the Chinese-Pakistani proposal is difficult to evaluate because it reads more as a general appeal for respect for international law and diplomacy than a concrete roadmap to peace.
The conflict saw a major escalation on Friday when Iran shot down two U.S. military aircraft — marking the first such incident since the war began. Trump told NBC News the incident would not affect negotiations with Iran, despite having declared just days earlier in a national address that the U.S. had “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
China’s Economic Calculus
Beijing has been more insulated from the Strait of Hormuz disruption than many other nations, having diversified its energy sources and reduced its reliance on fossil fuels. China currently sources only about 13 percent of its oil imports from Iran and maintains a substantial strategic petroleum reserve.
Still, analysts say the long-term outlook concerns Chinese planners. A prolonged conflict threatens the country’s export-heavy economy through costlier energy inputs and disrupted global shipping.
“An escalation of the conflict will start to harm Chinese interests,” Russel said. “Because China’s growth model is so export-heavy, prolonged energy shocks and shipping disruption will mean costlier inputs and weaker global demand that damage its vulnerable economy.”
Beyond the economic risks, China sees strategic upside. Ali Wyne, a senior adviser on U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group, noted that Beijing “welcomes the opportunity to suggest that it is helping mitigate a crisis of America’s making, especially as the Trump administration’s lack of a considered strategy for containing the fallout becomes more apparent.”
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China has been working “tirelessly for peace” since the outbreak of the war. Chinese Embassy sources confirmed that Wang Yi has told Iranian officials that China cherishes its relationship with Tehran while urging Israel to cease military operations.
Both China and Russia appear to have less immediate urgency about fully reopening the strait. Beijing has managed to pay its way through with some vessels, while Moscow benefits from elevated oil prices, its primary export.
For Beijing, the broader goal is clear: demonstrate that it can step into a global leadership vacuum. Whether that translates into actual results remains an open question, given the U.S. administration’s apparent disinterest and the vague nature of the proposals put forward so far.