High stakes at Beijing summit as Xi and Trump talk Taiwan and Iran

As two more ships are attacked in the Strait of Hormuz and the ceasefire in Lebanon nears its end, all eyes are on the high-stakes US-China summit in Beijing. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping say they agree that Iran must not have nuclear weapons and that the Strait must be reopened - but what does that mean in practice? Ahmed Aboudouh, Associate Fellow for Middle East and North Africa at Chatham House, joins Roland Oliphant and Sophia Yan and explains how Beijing’s complex relationship with Tehran and the Gulf monarchies will inform its approach to the war. Highlights What Beijing really wants from the Iran crisis The balancing act between Tehran and the Gulf states CONTRIBUTORS: Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent, @sophia_yan Ahmed Aboudouh, Chatham House @AAboudouh CONTENT REFERENCED: China ‘secretly planning to ship arms to Iran’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/05/13/china-weapons-deal-iran/ China will benefit from the Iran war, regardless of any deal between Trump and Tehran https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/05/china-will-benefit-iran-war-regardless-any-deal-between-trump-and-tehran Producer: Peter Shevlin Executive Producers: Venetia Rainey & Louisa Wells ► Sign up to the Telegraph's free new daily newsletter, From the Editor, bringing you the latest news, features and analysis from the Telegraph newsroom: www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/from-the-editor/?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Get the latest headlines: www.telegraph.co.uk?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain ► Stay ahead with a Telegraph digital subscription: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/customer/subscription/store?WT.mc_id=tmgoff_youtube_telegraphmain https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ and https://www.youtube.com/telegraph are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture. #Iran #IranIsrael #MiddleEast #StraitOfHormuz #OilCrisis #GlobalConflict #WorldNews #China #USChina #Lebanon #Hezbollah #Israel #BreakingNews #Geopolitics #Tankers #HormuzCrisis #IranTheLatest #Trump #XiJinping #WarNews