Trump to decide on US involvement ‘within two weeks’; Iranian missiles hit Israeli hospital; Iran’s Arak nuclear facility evacuation order issued

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said a short time again that there was no indication that China is likely to get involved militarily on Iran’s side.

That aligns with what we’ve seen so far. At the moment, China does appear content to stay out of the whole affair.

China was quick to condemn Israel after its assault against Iran, but President Xi Jinping has shown no sign of rushing to provide weapons or other support to help Tehran.

Beijing has issued warnings against escalation to “prevent the regional situation from sliding into the abyss,” but China is yet to offer any material support to Iran beyond its normal trading relationship, an approach it also took with Russia.

While Xi’s government has provided diplomatic support for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine and shipped dual-use goods to Moscow, China has been careful not to directly provide weapons in order to avoid US sanctions.

“China may be offering economic relief and rhetorical support to Iran, but actual military intervention is not anywhere near the table yet,” said Wen-Ti Sung, non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub. “China does not want to risk getting entrapped by Iran’s war with an Israel that has the Trump administration behind it.”

With Bloomberg