US Treasury Sec Bessent Says Strait of Hormuz Must Open, Talks Held With China, Russia

By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday has cautioned that China made no specific commitment to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Scott Bessent said that the Donald Trump administration held “quiet” discussions with Russia and China about Iran during the G20 finance ministers’ meet.

US launched a barrage of airstrikes on major targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, prompted Iranian retaliation.

Bessent said that the country believed it could build upon the discussions as the Trump administration sought broader international support for its economic campaign against Tehran.

“We’ve had very quiet conversations with Russia and China and I think we can move that discussion forward,” he told reporters after the two-day meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.

He claimed that the US and China had overlapping interests despite their wider economic and strategic differences, media reported.

“As I said with China on Iran, we have more in common than we have differences… China agrees Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. China agrees that there has to be free maritime trade in the Strait of Hormuz,” Bessent said.

He stated that Beijing’s reliance on energy supplies from the Gulf gave the country a direct interest in restoring unrestricted navigation through the strategic waterway.

“China gets 50 per cent of its energy from the Gulf. So I believe it’s up to China or incumbent upon China to work toward a solution… We will see how they follow through,” he said.

He clarified that the discussions had not resulted in a specific US-China agreement on steps to reopen the strait.

“No, I didn’t say that there was a specific agreement. I said we agreed that the strait must be open,” he added