Trump to confront Xi at high-stakes summit over China backing for Iran, Russia

By Fox News · Fox News

The Trump administration is ramping pressure on China over what U.S. officials describe as Beijing’s economic and material support for Iran and Russia ahead of President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. A senior administration official told reporters Sunday that Trump already has spoken "multiple times" with Xi about "the revenue that China provides to both those regimes and therefore as well as dual use goods, components and parts, not to mention the potential of weapons exports." "I expect that conversation to continue," the official said during a White House preview call ahead of Trump’s trip to Beijing. The comments underscore how deeply Iran and Russia have become intertwined with the broader U.S.–China relationship, with the administration increasingly framing Beijing not only as an economic competitor but also as a critical enabler of adversarial regimes. TRUMP SPEAKS WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT XI, WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL CONFIRMS "You've seen some actions, meaning sanctions coming out from the U.S. side just in the last few days that I'm sure will be part of that conversation," the official added. China ordered firms in early May to ignore U.S. sanctions targeting Iranian oil, a direct test of the U.S. crackdown. A new directive, issued through China’s Commerce Ministry Sunday, invokes a 2021 "blocking statute" that prohibits firms from complying with foreign sanctions deemed illegitimate. The order applies to several Chinese refiners accused by the U.S. of purchasing Iranian crude, including major independent processors known as "teapot" refineries. The move represents a shift from years of opaque workarounds to more explicit state-backed resistance, as Beijing signals it will not cooperate with U.S. efforts to cut off a key source of revenue for Iran. CHINA ORDERS FIRMS TO IGNORE US IRAN SANCTIONS, DARING US TO ENFORCE CRACKDOWN U.S. officials increasingly have accused China of helping sustain Iran’s military and economic capabil…