During their meeting last week, President Donald Trump told President Xi Jinping that Chinese support for Iran was “totally unacceptable.” 

US Ambassador to China David Perdue told CNBC on Friday that Trump stated to Xi ⁠that direct or indirect support for Iran was “totally unacceptable.” In separate remarks to Fox News, the diplomat explained that Washington received assurances from Beijing that China was not providing support for Tehran. 

Xi met with Trump at the White House last week. Leading into the talks, Xi was expected to press Trump on curbing arms sales to Taiwan, while Iran was another major issue on the summit agenda. Washington has also accused Beijing of providing other forms of assistance to Tehran.

The US is attempting to cripple the Iranian economy to force Tehran to sign a deal on Trump’s terms. China has refused to adopt US unilateral sanctions against Iran. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday that Beijing informed Tehran that Xi had no plans to change the relationship between China and Iran following his meeting with Trump. 

Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi also said that Taipei does not expect the Trump-Xi summit to impact its relationship with Washington. “Taiwan faces a severe situation in the Taiwan Strait. Even though China’s ​economy is declining, it continues investing more resources into building military capacity. Under this context, ‌the ⁠US very much understands our defense needs.” 

He continued, “We do continuously communicate with them, and we believe the US understands the situation we face and our determination on ​defense investment completely.”

On Saturday, Vice President Han Zheng pushed back against US aggression in the Middle East without naming the US. “Major countries should have special responsibilities for safeguarding international peace and security, and they should take ​the lead in complying with the rules, upholding rule of law, and doing what’s right,” he said. “China holds that the sovereignty and security of countries in the Middle East, including the Gulf, should be respected.”

Han also criticized the embargo against Cuba, again without naming the US. “China urges the relevant country to immediately stop using threat of force against Cuba and immediately and completely lift the blockade and sanctions against Cuba,” he added. 

The US has maintained a decades-long economic war against Cuba that has been tightened under Trump.