China in April 2026: the most important developments in politics
China's politics and diplomacy in April 2026 centred on the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz. On April 7 Russia and China vetoed a US-backed UN Security Council resolution on reopening the waterway, hours before a deadline set by President Trump. Beijing said the US and Israel had violated the UN Charter and called for an immediate ceasefire. A US-Iran ceasefire followed on April 8; China welcomed it and noted Pakistan's mediation. Trump said he believed China had persuaded Iran to negotiate, while Chinese officials stressed an impartial stance. Later in the month China called the US blockade of Iranian ports "dangerous and irresponsible" and Xi urged a ceasefire and an open Strait in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump said he had asked Xi to stop sending weapons to Iran and that China agreed; China's Foreign Ministry said it knew of no such exchange.
Cross-strait relations were the second theme. Kuomintang chair Cheng Li-wun travelled to China on April 7, the first such visit by an opposition leader in a decade, and met Xi in Beijing on April 10. Xi called unification a "certainty of history" and said China would "never tolerate" Taiwan independence. On April 12 Beijing announced incentives, including resuming exchanges and opening to Taiwanese TV and imports. On April 21 Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te cancelled a trip to Eswatini, citing Chinese coercion; China welcomed the outcome after a flight permit was denied, and the US condemned it.
Xi also hosted Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, who said President Putin would visit China in the first half of the year, and Spain's Prime Minister Sanchez, to whom Xi warned against a return to "the law of the jungle". Vietnam's To Lam made a state visit with 32 agreements signed.
China criticised Japan over a Japanese destroyer's passage through the Taiwan Strait, Yasukuni Shrine offerings and eased arms export rules. It rejected US accusations over detained Panama-flagged ships, and on April 29 the US and several Latin American countries criticised its retaliatory measures over the Panama Canal.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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