China Is Not Neutral
Gordon Chang is warning that China is not standing on the sidelines in the Iran conflict. In his view, Beijing is not neutral, not detached, and not merely watching events unfold. It is helping Iran resist the United States.
Chang, a China expert, author, and Gatestone Institute senior fellow, told Newsmax that President Donald Trump must “bring the hammer down” on China if the United States wants to stop Beijing from supplying Iran with weapons, intelligence, and economic support.
“China was supplying Iran during the war,” Chang said.
That is the core point. China may not have the stomach to openly enter a war against the United States, but it is more than willing to poke America in the face by keeping Iran supplied, funded, and politically protected.
Who Is Gordon Chang?
Gordon Chang is a longtime China analyst and author known for his warnings about the Chinese Communist Party’s ambitions. He has spent years arguing that Beijing is not simply an economic competitor, but a hostile power working to weaken the United States and its allies.
In recent comments on Newsmax and Fox Business, Chang focused on China’s role in supporting Iran. He disputed President Trump’s claim that China had remained neutral in the Iran conflict and argued that Beijing’s actions tell a very different story.
According to Chang, China has supplied Iran with weapons, military targeting data, and economic support. He also said Iran has become, “in a very real sense,” a Chinese proxy.
“Iran, in a very real sense, is a Chinese proxy,” Chang said. “The Chinese are now enjoying watching Iran defy the United States.”
China’s Military Support
Chang made one of his strongest claims when he said China supplied targeting information that Iran used against Americans.
“They supplied them, for instance, with targeting information that the Iranians used to kill six Americans on March 1,” Chang said.
He also alleged that Chinese military cargo planes landed in Iran during the conflict after turning off their transponders. In his view, that points to Beijing continuing to move weapons and supplies to Tehran while trying to avoid open responsibility.
Other reporting cited in the material points to Chinese companies providing Iran with goods that have military applications. These include motors used in Shahed drones, chemicals for rocket fuel, electronics for weapons, and commercial satellite imagery that may help Iranian forces target U.S. assets.
Two Chinese firms, MizarVision and Empostate, have allegedly provided the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with high-definition satellite imagery of U.S. assets and bases in the region. Another sanctioned Chinese company, Chang Guang Satellite Technology, has been accused of providing images to Houthi forces in Yemen to target U.S. assets in the Red Sea.
Rocket Fuel and Missile Support
China’s help is not limited to oil and banking. Chinese chemical shipments may also be helping Iran maintain its missile arsenal.
According to the information provided, China reportedly shipped more than 1,000 tons of sodium perchlorate to Iran in early 2025. Sodium perchlorate can be used to make ammonium perchlorate, a key ingredient in solid rocket fuel.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that two ships linked to an Iranian state company left China loaded with 1,000 tons of material that could be used to make a main ingredient for solid propellant for about 260 midrange missiles. In mid-2025, Iran reportedly ordered thousands of tons of missile fuel ingredients from China.
Even after U.S. sanctions targeted Shenzhen Amor Logistics and its network for helping the IRGC access key precursors, Chinese firms reportedly continued deliveries to Iran.
This is exactly the kind of quiet assistance that lets Beijing support Iran without sending Chinese soldiers into the fight.
China Softens the Blow of Sanctions
China has also helped Iran survive U.S. sanctions by buying enormous amounts of Iranian oil.
The Wall Street Journal reported that China has dramatically increased its purchase of Iranian oil and now buys nearly every drop Iran produces. China once bought about 30 percent of Iran’s oil exports. Now it buys the vast majority.
One report said China bought roughly 1.4 million barrels of oil per day from Iran in 2025, more than 80 percent of Iran’s oil sales. Another said roughly 90 percent of Iran’s 1.6 million barrels per day of crude oil exports go to China.
That provides Tehran with tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year.
This is one of the clearest ways China helps Iran defy America. U.S. sanctions are meant to choke off Iran’s ability to fund its military, proxies, missile program, and nuclear ambitions. China weakens those sanctions by keeping the oil money flowing.
Chinese “teapot” refineries, smaller independent refiners with less exposure to U.S. financial markets, have become key buyers of Iranian crude. The oil is often discounted, which benefits China, and its origin is frequently disguised through brokers, fake invoices, mislabeled crude, and ship-to-ship transfers.
In other words, China gets cheap oil, Iran gets money, and U.S. sanctions get undermined.
Shadow Banking and Sanctions Evasion
China also helps Iran move money.
According to the material, Chinese buyers pay for Iranian oil in yuan, often through smaller Chinese banks that have limited exposure to the global financial system. These banks have less to lose if they are sanctioned by the United States.
The Bank of Kunlun is one example. U.S. officials have said a significant portion of Iran’s oil revenue was deposited there as of 2022. The bank had already been sanctioned by the United States in 2012 for allegedly providing financial services to Iranian banks.
Iran also uses front companies in Hong Kong, China, Dubai, and Singapore to move money and convert yuan into other currencies. One Iranian exchange house reportedly oversaw 66 front companies in Hong Kong and China.
There is also a barter-like system. In some cases, Chinese oil buyers do not simply send money. Instead, state-backed Chinese companies build infrastructure in Iran as compensation for oil. One report said up to the equivalent of $8.4 billion in oil payments flowed through this kind of conduit in 2024.
This is not just commerce. It is a system that helps Iran survive pressure.
Diplomatic Cover for Tehran
China has also helped Iran diplomatically.
Beijing has supported Iran’s entry into international bodies, including BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It helped restore diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia in 2023. It has also shielded Tehran from some diplomatic fallout while criticizing U.S. pressure.
China officially says it opposes Iran developing nuclear weapons, but it also defends Iran’s “rights” under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and portrays many Iranian nuclear sites as peaceful.
This gives Tehran more room to maneuver. China does not need to fire a shot to help Iran. It can provide money, materials, diplomatic cover, and plausible deniability.
Chang’s Warning
Chang’s warning is simple: unless the United States goes after China’s support network, the pain will continue.
“Until President Trump starts to bring the hammer down on the Chinese, this agony is going to continue,” Chang said.
He added, “Otherwise, we are going to see the United States humiliated.”
Chang is right. If China can help Iran target Americans, buy its oil, move its money, supply missile ingredients, and shield it diplomatically without consequence, then Iran will keep fighting above its weight.
China may not want a full Middle East war. It does not want energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz destroyed. It does not want to risk a direct fight with the United States. But it does want Iran alive, useful, and hostile to America.
That is the real issue.
China is not on our side in this fight. It is using Iran as a tool to weaken American power while pretending to be cautious and responsible. It may avoid direct confrontation, but it is happy to fuel the fire from behind the curtain.
Chang’s message is clear. If America wants to stop Iran, it cannot ignore the power standing behind it.