Donald Trump’s Beijing Trip Slips as China Ignores Strait of Hormuz Request

China won't help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz as requested by President Donald Trump, but it is probably welcoming the delay in Trump's highly anticipated trip to Beijing as the US risks getting bogged down in the Middle East, analysts say. 

The latest developments are unfolding as Trump's Iran war, in its third week, is faced with mounting pressure as oil has stopped moving through the strait and US allies have refused to step up to secure the



strait.

That has produced concerns that China, the United States' biggest geopolitical rival, could stand to benefit from a war that some say was ill-considered. 

"President Trump's request to delay his long-awaited summit with President Xi Jinping underscores how significantly he underestimated the fallout from Operation Epic Fury," said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for US-China relations at the International Crisis Group.