China condemns US strikes on Iran's civilian infrastructure

Responding to a query, over China's stance after US President Donald Trump claimed that the US air strikes destroyed an Iranian civilian bridge to pressure Iran into negotiations, the Chinese MFA stated, "The US-Israeli military operations against Iran have no authorization of the UN Security Council and violate international law. China opposes attacks against civilian facilities. Relevant parties should stop the military actions at once, return to the track of political and diplomatic settlement, and avoid an even worse humanitarian disaster."

https://x.com/ChinaSpox_India/status/2040339035714171107?s=20

As the Strait of Hormuz has the world in a chokehold, China appears to have largely insulated itself from the oil crisis, even though the country is heavily reliant on Iran for oil.

China gets more than half of its oil from the Middle East, especially Iran. According to data from Kpler, China bought more than 80 per cent of Iran's shipped oil in 2025. China's imports of Iranian crude were 1.4 million barrels of oil per day (mbd) in 2025, out of a total 10.4mbd seaborne crude imports, as per Al Jazeera.

When the US and Israel commenced strikes on Iran on February 28, and Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz through which about 20 per cent of global oil and gas passes just hours later, Beijing was already prepared to cope with an energy crisis, as it had been preparing for years. In 2021, while visiting an oilfield in the country, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that the country would take its energy supply matters "into its own hands".

Since then, one of the key tactics the country has used to secure its oil supply is through "teapot refineries" - smaller, independent facilities which have capitalised on oil made cheap by international sanctions, stockpiling oil reserves and increasing imports from countries such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)