Trump: China you gotta do something! You are, after all, my best friend.

  • China gets to not have oil shortages. They’re far more dependent on the middle east for oil. The US has been self sufficient when it comes to oil for almost a decade.

    • @Jhex@lemmy.world
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      518 hours ago

      so Trump is asking China to help itsef as the US won’t be affected at all. Did I understand you interpretation correctly?

    • NoneOfUrBusiness
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      923 hours ago

      Iran could easily allow China-bound ships and shut out everyone else, which they’ll probably do if China pushes for it.

      • @Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        The only possible way they have to close the strait is by mining it. Anything else would be open to air attack and about as effective as the Houthis, which is to say not very.

        Nevermind that if they allowed through any shipments, it would defeat the entire purpose of closing the Strait. Oil is fungible and will be resold if a profit can be made, as we’ve already seen with the Russian sanctions.

        • @theneverfox@pawb.social
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          114 hours ago

          Anything else would be open to air attack and about as effective as the Houthis, which is to say not very.

          You mean the terrorist group who forced both the US and China to make deals with them?

          I think they proved that this is a shockingly successful technique

          • @Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            Yes, the one that has only managed to sink or capture 4 ships over their 2 year campaign. Compare that with the Somali pirates that captured 100+ ships during their peak in 2010-2011.

            • @theneverfox@pawb.social
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              29 hours ago

              That’s not the part that matters… They’re not pirates

              They scared the shipping companies enough to affect the global economy.

              It doesn’t matter if all they do is give some deck hand PTSD by taking pot shots at them - They still made the biggest economies in the world come to them for a deal

        • @JuxtaposedJaguar@lemmy.ml
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          218 hours ago

          if they allowed through any shipments, it would defeat the entire purpose of closing the Strait. Oil is fungible and will be resold if a profit can be made

          Every additional step in the supply chain increases the price since everyone adds their own margin, and at some point it becomes more expensive than oil alternatives (for example, bio-plastics). Anyway, if China started reselling the oil then Iran would stop letting them through.