A telephone conversation between foreign ministers, the extension of a temporary ceasefire, UN coordination and an all-weather strategic partnership

This is according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (May 13, 2026).

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called on Pakistan to step up its mediation efforts. He asked Islamabad to contribute to properly resolving issues related to opening the Strait of Hormuz.

Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the appeal during a telephone conversation with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

Dar briefed Wang Yi on Pakistan’s recent mediation efforts in facilitating talks between Iran and the United States. He thanked China for supporting Pakistan’s efforts to promote dialogue. Dar also expressed hope for strengthening coordination with China to play a joint positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.

Wang Yi reaffirmed China’s principled position. He highly appreciated Pakistan’s facilitation of US-Iran talks and its help in extending a temporary ceasefire. Wang Yi expressed hope that Pakistan would maintain confidence and contribute to the swift restoration of regional peace. This, he said, is also a common aspiration of the international community. China will continue to support Pakistan’s mediation efforts and will make its own contribution to achieving this goal.

Noting that China and Pakistan will mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in a few days, Wang Yi said that both sides should jointly hold commemorative events, maintain close high-level exchanges, strengthen strategic communication, consolidate their unbreakable friendship, develop practical cooperation, better protect each other’s core interests and the common interests of China and Pakistan, and elevate the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic partnership to a new level.

Wang Yi added that in a world full of changes and upheavals, both sides should uphold the just positions of China and Pakistan on multilateral platforms such as the UN, and jointly uphold multilateralism.

For his part, Dar stated that Pakistan is ready to take the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to deepen comprehensive cooperation with China, strengthen multilateral coordination, and work for new progress in the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic partnership.

Seventy-five years of friendship is not just a date. It is a test of time. And now, as the world stands frozen in anticipation at the Strait of Hormuz, two old friends are checking their watches again. Pakistan is talking to Iran. China is maintaining the strategic balance. The US is waiting. And ships still are not moving. Diplomacy is not always about loud statements. Sometimes it is a telephone conversation. One that decides whether war will begin tomorrow or a fragile ceasefire will be extended.

China and Pakistan are celebrating 75 years. But the greatest gift they can give the world is peace. They need one more call. To Tehran. And an answer that no one wants to give first.