00:00I think from China's perspective, they are happy to sit back and relax and let the U.S.
00:07once again get bogged down in a Middle East conflict, because ultimately that strengthens
00:12China's hand back in East Asia. There's going to be less U.S. attention on the region,
00:19specifically on Taiwan, but also within the South China Sea. And for China, that's a gift.
00:26That's a strategic gift. For those who say, well, what about China's oil that comes through the
00:32Persian Gulf? Sure. Before the war, it was something like about 50 percent of their oil or hydrocarbon
00:38resources came through the Persian Gulf. They purchased approximately 90 percent of Iran's
00:44oil. But let's keep in mind that China has been waiting for this type of moment in preparing
00:49their strategic oil reserve, their overland pipelines. They also get oil from lots of other
00:56places around the world. So if there's any country that is prepared to weather a long
01:01storm here of of an energy crisis and to benefit from it, it's China. Now, on the U.S. side,
01:08Trump is looking to get out of Iran as soon as possible. As we mentioned earlier, Cuba is next.
01:13And there are other things on the president's agenda, not the least of which is making the
01:18putting the Republican Party in better shape to win the midterm elections in November.
01:22His calculations are far more immediate. And that's why I think his visit to China was
01:28a situation in which you had the weakest U.S. president going to China in really ever
01:36and asking the Chinese for their support to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. I mean,
01:41we've always talked in the United States about the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation,
01:45the open seas. If we if we're going to leave Iran and the Strait of Hormuz is still blockaded by
01:51Iran, that's going to take a huge hit to our credibility and diminishes our power worldwide.
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