Why China is playing the long game in Iran despite Trump’s fresh threats

Last Updated on January 22, 2026 10:57 pm

By Cao Jiaxuan in Beijing

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it all in a phone call to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, last week.

With Tehran in turmoil and Washington threatening to intervene, Wang was holding Beijing’s long-standing line.

“[China] opposes the use or threat of force in international relations, opposes imposing one’s own will on others and opposes a return of the world to the law of the jungle,” he said, adding that Beijing was willing to play a “constructive role” in resolving differences through dialogue.

A fortnight after the US abducted the leader of another Chinese energy partner, there was no mention of concrete steps and no condemnation of the US threats against Iran, a country that China has maintained ties with despite decades of international sanctions and isolation.

Observers said China’s muted response to the US-Iran tensions reflected a strategy of restraint, balancing vital energy interests with long-standing diplomatic principles and a cautious recalibration of its Middle East approach.

Zhang Xin, deputy director of the Centre for Russian Studies at Shanghai-based East China Normal University, described Beijing’s position so far as “extremely restrained and conservative, with no indication that it wants to intervene in a more direct way”.

Source :SCMP