Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi used his annual National People's Congress press conference on Sunday to deliver Beijing's most direct public intervention in the conflict. "Plotting colour revolution or seeking Regime change will find no popular support. The people in the Middle East are the true master of the region." He called for an "immediate stop to military operations" and stated the sovereignty of Iran and all countries must be respected.
The statement arrived within 12 hours of Prime Minister Netanyahu's Saturday declaration that Israel has "an organised plan to destabilise the regime" — fast by the standards of Chinese diplomacy, which typically delays public responses to assess outcomes before committing. Wang defended the principle of state sovereignty, not the IRGC or President Pezeshkian personally. Beijing is positioning itself as the external guarantor of Iran's statehood while maintaining distance from the conduct of the war.
The diplomatic statement is inseparable from the commercial negotiation. Reuters reported on Saturday that China is in direct formal talks with Iran for exclusive safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz — a deal that would give Chinese-linked vessels access to roughly 60% of Gulf oil exports while Western-bound crude remains blocked . Wang's defence of Iranian sovereignty and his demand for a ceasefire serve the same interest: a stable Iranian state that honours its commercial commitments to Beijing. A collapsed or replaced government in Tehran would void whatever transit arrangements China is building.
Wang's press conference also fell ahead of a tentatively scheduled Trump-Xi summit in late March. The Iran crisis is now the defining issue for that meeting. Beijing holds simultaneous leverage as Iran's potential commercial lifeline and its diplomatic shield — a dual position it has constructed in nine days of war, and one that gives Xi bargaining weight whether the summit produces confrontation or accommodation.
