Located to the west of the Arabian/Persian Gulf, stretching out into open ocean waters to the east, bordered by Iran to the north and a strip of land belonging to Oman to the south, the Strait of Hormuz is only about 30 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. In some places, its shipping lanes are just three kilometers wide in each direction. Nevertheless, Asia, which is home to more than half of the world’s population and hosts nearly a third of the global economy, now finds itself acutely exposed to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint that is currently being held hostage in the war between the United States and Israel on one side, and Iran on the other.

On Tuesday, March 3, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called on “all parties” to “safeguard the safety of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.” Beijing has been pressuring Iran to allow oil and gas tankers to pass through it, after strikes targeted at least four ships on Sunday, and several more on Monday, including a tanker on which, according to Omani authorities, a crew member was killed. Meanwhile, another tanker was reportedly set on fire in a Bahrain port.

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