Posted on 08/21/2026 10:33:33 AM PDT by thegagline
China said on Friday (Aug 21) that United States "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict, after Washington urged governments including Beijing to join efforts to isolate the Iranian economy.
The US has vowed it would "collapse" the Iranian regime with its threatened campaign, which Tehran has branded as "economic terrorism" doomed to fail, nearly six months since their war began.
Asked about US President Donald Trump's threats, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Friday that "sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue".
"China calls on all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has defended Trump's push for economic pressure on Tehran.
When asked whether the US would pressure China to join the campaign, Bessent told CNBC that "many conversations are best to have in private", but called on Beijing "to get with the programme".
Spokesman Lin reiterated the need for all parties to take "responsible measures" in resolving the war when he was asked about Bessent's comments.
"China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorised by the UN Security Council," Lin said.
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
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“...not authorised by the UN Security Council”
Ha, he means the “not authorized by the UN Communist Council”.
I agree wholeheartedly, we should just nuke the place
Nope, the blockade stays. Chi coms can suck it.
We’ll see. Trump has seen the “Taco” chatter l think. He’ll do what he wants but that talk probably irritates him.
When the opposing side is not able to negotiate in good faith, I am not sure of the alternatives.
F China
F Xi
F communists and Chinamen in general.
China should have some pull in Iran . Im sure they can call up and get them to do the right thing
if China was handling it the Shiites would be in camps and all declared mentally deficient and encouraged to make iPhones.
I’m sure there is a drug for TDS. Buy some.
They protest too much?
“not authorised by the UN Security Council” means not subject to a Chinese veto. Aw shucks.
Over recent months, Chinese authorities have actively expanded China’s counter-sanctions toolkit through additional regulations and enforcement actions. In April 2026, China’s State Council instituted two new regulations to broaden restrictions on foreign legal actions that have extraterritorial effect in China (“Counter-Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Regulation”) and limit information gathering on Chinese supply chains (“Supply Chain Regulation”).
In May 2026, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) issued its first-ever blocking order under the 2021 Blocking Rules, prohibiting implementation of U.S. Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) designations against five Chinese “teapot refineries” by any parties in China.
In the same month, the Ministry of Justice (“MOJ”) announced its determination that the EU Commission’s demands for “extensive and unnecessary” records located in China in connection with an anticompetition investigation constituted an improper exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction.
This year, multiple Chinese courts have accepted civil suit filings by Chinese companies against foreign business partners for damages under the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law (“AFSL”).
[US 'sanctions and pressure' on Iran not a solution] == [it's working].
Watch out Xi, or we'll do 'em like you did to Tibet.
Although the blockade has prevented Iranian crude cargoes from getting out of the Gulf, there was still a lot of Iranian inventory in the logistics “pipeline” - cargoes in transit, floating storage, prior deliveries on inventory in market’s storage depots.
After a couple of months however, that buffer is largely expended, and China’s teapot refineries, who have long bought the lion’s share of Iran’s sanctioned exports (like 90% of Iran’s seaborne crude exports), now have to start buying replacement cargoes from other suppliers. This means that the drying up of revenue to Iran is starting to hit in earnest, as that inventory buffer is now about gone.
I honestly had a brief thought China was going to force a face off against Trump earlier. That could still happen. China would have to look good to the Third World and things could escalate.
Trump should have stuck to heavy bombing.
Pressure’ on Iran not a solution.
If so why tell the U.S. it’s not like the care so it must be a good idea.
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