Trump and Xi Agreed on Iran Language, Iran Spent the Same Day Contradicting It
Beijing produced the first written multilateral paragraph on Iran since the war began — and Tehran stood up the toll agency it repudiated, in the same news cycle.
David Chen
Bureau: Beijing
Wang Yi Did Not Go to Delhi This Week and the BRICS Iran Statement Lost Its Co-Chair
China's foreign minister was the only BRICS minister absent in Delhi — Beijing sent its ambassador, and India's three-month Iran-position brokerage lost its Chinese signature to a US state visit.
China Quietly Told Its Banks to Stop Yuan Lending to Sanctioned Iranian Refineries
China's NFRA verbally told major banks May 7 to halt new yuan lending to five US-sanctioned teapot refineries including Hengli Dalian — existing loans intact, two days before Trump-Xi.
The Mao Ning Readout Made Taiwan Central and Iran Procedural
Mao Ning's MOFA readout led with Taiwan while NBC's live blog noted Taiwan absent from the US readout — two capitals, two hierarchies, one summit.
Taiwan Was the First Line of the Chinese Readout and Absent From the American One
Beijing put Taiwan at the top of its Trump-Xi summit readout; Washington's readout did not name Taiwan at all.