April 21 this year marked the fourth anniversary of Xi Jinping’s so-called “Global Security Initiative.” Chinese state media outlets widely and shamelessly praised it. However, at the same time, an article from the Hudson Institute systematically detailed the failures of Xi’s administration from military, financial, and diplomatic perspectives.
The article not only states that “Xi Jinping will clearly realize in negotiations that Washington has weakened his proxies, shut down his ‘laboratory,’ and destroyed the military system he spent a decade building,” but also bluntly asserts that “Beijing will be the next core of accountability.”
This is like a resounding slap in the face of Xi’s regime.
‘Xi Jinping finally reveals his true face’
Zineb Riboua is a researcher at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. She specializes in analyzing Middle Eastern issues within the broader framework of U.S.–China–Russia competition.
In an article published on April 20, Riboua opened by stating, “On Monday, Xi Jinping finally revealed his true face.”
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She was referring to Xi Jinping’s phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. She noted that “Beijing is under increasing pressure.”
“At least five oil tankers linked to Iran, sailing from the Gulf of Oman toward Malaysia, changed course after the U.S. Navy warned it would intercept vessels transporting Iranian oil worldwide.”
Riboua concluded that Xi had spent more than a decade building Iran into an armed pillar of China’s influence in the Middle East.
However, after U.S. actions, Trump quickly dismantled Xi’s decade-long effort. The Iranian regime, she wrote, “is now reduced to a remnant lacking weapons, command structure, and financial support, with its threat diminished.”
“President Trump should see this as one of the most powerful bargaining chips against Beijing.”
She then analyzed the U.S.–China competition across three fronts: military, financial, and diplomatic.
Major defeat across three fronts
Military front
Riboua argues that “U.S. actions have destroyed the weapons systems that China’s industrial network spent years building.”
She states clearly that China has become the main external supplier for Iran’s ballistic missile program, providing chemical precursors for solid rocket fuel as well as satellite intelligence and navigation systems. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned multiple Chinese entities supplying missile fuel chemicals to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. intelligence has also documented Iranian cargo ships unloading sodium perchlorate in Bandar Abbas—enough to produce roughly 800 new missiles.
She further notes that Beijing once negotiated the sale of CM-302 supersonic anti-ship missiles designed to sink aircraft carriers. In December last year, U.S. special forces raided a merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean carrying Chinese goods destined for the IRGC.
Financial front
Riboua writes that Iran has been a “testing ground” for China to bypass sanctions, serving as Beijing’s “laboratory” for refining techniques to resist large-scale U.S. financial pressure. The U.S. “Operation Economic Fury” directly challenged this system.
The Trump administration sent letters to financial institutions in Oman, the UAE, Hong Kong, and China, presenting evidence that they facilitated the transfer of Iranian funds linked to illicit activities. These letters are described as a first step toward secondary sanctions that could cut these institutions off from the U.S. financial system.
Diplomatic front
The article notes that Beijing previously facilitated the normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia in March 2023, presenting it as a symbol of a new diplomatic order led by China.
However, this narrative has collapsed. During recent conflicts, Iran launched missiles and drones at multiple regional targets, exposing the agreement as a “paper arrangement” that Beijing cannot enforce.
Ironically, Iran itself has undermined Xi’s image—demonstrating that, despite Chinese propaganda, even Iran does not take Beijing’s commitments seriously.
The facts listed in the article show the continued collapse of Xi’s carefully constructed image.
When the UAE joined a U.S.-led alliance and called for the Strait’s opening while Beijing remained silent on the weaponization of a vital energy route, the damage deepened. Gulf monarchies now understand what China’s “security cooperation” means when Iranian attacks affect their own territory.
A similar situation has emerged in the Western Hemisphere. The Venezuelan regime has collapsed, Nicolás Maduro has been detained by the United States, and Beijing’s position in Latin America has unraveled. Within months, Washington has dismantled two key regimes that served as pillars of Xi’s global influence strategy.
These developments clearly illustrate both the Trump administration’s strategic gains and the rapid deterioration of Xi’s position.
‘Beijing will be the next core of accountability’
The Trump administration is now “harvesting results” in Asia. The strategic focus has shifted from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca—through which most of China’s energy imports flow.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Indonesia, located on both sides of the Strait of Malacca, signed a major defense partnership on April 13, integrating Jakarta into the U.S. security framework through military modernization and officer training cooperation. The Philippines has also joined this system and will establish a 4,000-acre industrial hub intended as a supply chain alternative to China.
These moves are described as tightening pressure on China’s economic lifelines.
Riboua writes that the U.S. has demonstrated a new operational model in the Strait of Hormuz—one capable of blocking countries dependent on critical maritime routes. Even without explicit statements, Beijing understands the implication.
She also notes that Trump has maintained control over diplomatic timing with China, delaying a visit and refusing to play the role of a supplicant. Instead, he will act on his own schedule, establishing strategic realities before any formal meeting.
“Xi Jinping will clearly realize in negotiations that Washington has weakened his proxies, shut down his ‘laboratory,’ and destroyed the military system he spent a decade building. This bargaining chip now lies in Trump’s hands, and the U.S. government has already begun to use it.”
The article concludes: “The greatest strategic gains are emerging in Asia, and Beijing will be the next core of accountability.”
