Beijing to provide Havana with energy supplies amid blackout

Serbia purchases Chinese missiles; Trump asks for Xi’s help in Strait of Hormuz

Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.

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In an attempt to coax Beijing to pressure Tehran into opening the vital trade route, Washington claims that 90% of the People Republic of China’s (PRC) oil supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz. In reality, the Strait only accounts for approximately 35% of Beijing’s oil supplies.

While Donald Trump, President of the United States (US), has been stealing the limelight over the past few weeks – most recently by requesting a delay to his state visit to Beijing over the conflict in Iran – the PRC has been doing some important foreign policy work of its own in the background.

The PRC will now provide solar energy to Cuba as the Latin American country faces total power outages, and has also offered emergency humanitarian assistance to a number of Middle Eastern countries affected by the ongoing strikes in Iran and Lebanon. Meanwhile, last week, I wrote that direct trains will resume from Beijing to Pyongyang after a six-year hiatus – this will now be matched by a direct flight between the two capitals.

Welcome back to Observing China.