China confirmed on Tuesday that it remains in communication with the United States regarding the date of US President Donald Trump”s possible visit to China, saying that it has noted Washington’s clarification that the scheduling of the visit is not linked to the issue over the Strait of Hormuz.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian made the remarks at a regular news briefing in Beijing in response to media reports quoting Trump as saying that his visit to China might be postponed if China doesn’t provide assistance in securing the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Lin said that China has noted that the US described such reports as “completely false”. He told reporters that there is ongoing communication about the date of the trip, but there is no further information available at present.
The reports drew a coordinated rebuttal from the US on Monday, with Trump himself, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt all publicly denying any linkage between the visit and the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said he is looking forward to the trip. “There’s no tricks to it,” he said. “It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on (with Iran).”
Calling such reports “false narrative”, Bessent said that the meeting “wouldn’t be delayed because the president demanded that China police the Strait of Hormuz”.
“If the meeting for some reason is rescheduled, it would be rescheduled because of logistics — the president wants to remain in DC to coordinate the war effort, and that traveling abroad at a time like this may not be optimal,” he said.
Leavitt confirmed that the meeting is not in jeopardy, but acknowledged “it’s quite possible the meeting could be delayed”.
