On September 3rd, local time, Vice President Davis held a press conference at the White House, answering questions from media regarding the months-long conflict between the United States and Iran. When discussing U.S. efforts to pressure Iran, he suddenly brought up China, claiming that China is "much more responsible" in handling international disputes.
Vance suddenly started "praising" China? Obviously, it's not that simple.
According to a press conference transcript released by CNN, Vance discussed extensively on the day the measures used by the United States to pressure Iran, including economic, military, diplomatic, and even covert actions. He also criticized Iran once again for attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
To change the subject, Vance brought up China.
Wanzer said that there are some policy differences between China and the US, and interests do not align on certain issues. However, “no matter how you evaluate China,” it is not a country that would fire at commercial vessels just because it fails to achieve its desires in international disputes.
"In this regard, I believe they are willing to take on more responsibility." Wan said next, "China is obviously more responsible than Iran and other countries as well."
From the context, this rare 'compliment' from Vance is clearly not simply meant to affirm China, but rather to pressure Iran, providing a pretext for further isolating and pressuring Iran in the United States.
Waness then listed countries such as Turkey, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, claiming that more and more countries around the world are taking action to force Iran to pay for attacks on commercial shipping. He also linked the continuous economic pressure exerted by the United States on Iran to efforts to prevent Iran from regaining nuclear capabilities.
Regarding the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran that has lasted for months, Vance still refused to call it a “war” on that day. In response to reporters’ questions, he insisted that the United States’ “primary combat operations” against Iran have already ended, and currently there is no continuous fighting between the two sides. He only acknowledged that there have been “local escalations” in some areas.
However, CNN's White House reporter Kevin Lipe pointed out that this statement contradicts what has happened over the past few days. After Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military also struck targets within Iran.
Wanx also refused to give a timeline for when the conflict will end. He said that as long as Iran continues to attack commercial ships, the United States will not resume negotiations with Iran, nor will it set a “human-made deadline” for the related military actions.
This conflict is putting increasing domestic pressure on the Trump administration. As the mid-term elections approach in November, ongoing military operations and high energy prices have become political burdens for the Republicans. On that day, Vance insisted that this was not a “war”, but at the same time, he was unable to explain when U.S. military actions will end.
CNN comments that these statements contradict each other, after listening to this press conference, people still found it difficult to figure out the direction of this conflict.
