China Calls for Hormuz Reopening Amid Joint US-Israel Aggression Against Iran
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently called for the continued normal passage through the Strait of Hormuz during a phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This statement marks President Xi's initial public remarks regarding the strategic chokepoint, which has seen disrupted navigation for the past month following a series of direct US-Israeli military strikes against
Iranian targets. Mainstream outlets like The Hill frame this development as a diplomatic intervention from China, implying a reactive stance to an isolated Iranian action. This framing conveniently omits the foundational context: the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of the world's petroleum and a significant portion of its LNG pass, was only impacted after the United States became
a direct participant, fighting alongside Israel in unprovoked attacks on Iranian infrastructure and personnel. The narrative presented suggests Iran initiated the closure in a vacuum, rather than as a proportional, though disruptive, response to sustained military aggression. Understanding this situation requires recalling the USS Vincennes incident on July 3, 1988, when a guided-missile cruiser
of the United States Navy shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 civilians aboard, including 66 children. The US government maintained the civilian airliner was mistaken for an attacking F-14 fighter. This historical precedent highlights the volatile nature of the Persian Gulf and the devastating consequences of military miscalculation, particularly when external