President Trump made an interesting and somewhat cryptic China reference in a series of Tuesday morning Iran-related statements, given to CNBC.
He stated that US forces recently intercepted a vessel carrying what he described as a "gift" from China to Iran as Tehran seeks to rebuild its military during a ceasefire.
The ship had "a gift from China" which "wasn’t very nice," Trump told CNBC. "I was a little surprised," he said, adding that he believed he had an "understanding" with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He had asserted: "We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice, a gift from China."
However, he didn't specify further what the precise nature of the intercepted shipment was, and provided no other details, leaving the public merely guessing and speculating.
It was only a week ago that Trump said Xi had assured him there would be no Chinese weapons shipments to Iran, which is a longstanding partner of Beijing. Trump and Xi are set to hold a historic meeting May 14-15.
But a further clue is Trump's contextual explanation wherein he said Iran had "probably done a little bit of restocking" while implying that Beijing had been helping its efforts. As South China Morning Post further reviews:
The claim was first made by former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and Trump then injected a note of doubt, saying: "Perhaps, I don’t know, but I was a little surprised … but I thought I had an understanding with President Xi [Jinping], but that’s all right. That’s the way war goes."
China's foreign ministry was quick to reject and deny the allegation, with spokesman Guo Jiakun saying, "To my knowledge, this is a foreign-flagged container ship. China opposes any malicious links and hype."
Amb. Haley made the allegation about the ship which was seized by the US Navy on Sunday in a social media post, saying it had "refused repeated orders to stop" and was "linked to chemical shipments for missiles"...
Just prior to this high seas interdiction, Trump had last Saturday struck a very positive and cordial tone when discussing relations with Xi: "President Xi is very happy that the Strait of Hormuz is open and/or rapidly opening. Our meeting in China will be a special one and, potentially, Historic. I look forward to being with President Xi — Much will be accomplished!" he wrote.
But he also said the US Navy's blockade would continue "until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100 per cent complete." Without doubt, the blockade hurts Iran and China, but it is also a high-risk game of chicken, given the longer this goes and the more pain that gets inflicted on the global economy - and so the US taxpayer at the pump - it would spell political trouble for Republicans, especially ahead of the Congressional midterms.