Iran war prompts Donald Trump to delay meeting Xi Jinping in China

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is planning to delay a high stakes visit to China later in March by about a month because of the Iran war. "We've requested that we delay it a month or so," he told reporters at the White House, adding that it was important that he remained available to oversee the war. The meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is currently set to take place between 31 March to 2 April, following their last face to face talks in October last year. Chinese foreign affairs spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday that Beijing and Washington are in talks over "the timing and related matters of President Trump's visit to China". China also rejected any connection between the delayed meeting and issues around the Strait of Hormuz - a critical waterway for global energy shipments from the Gulf. "We have noted that the US side has publicly clarified these false reports by the media, stating that the relevant reports are completely wrong, and emphasised that the visit has nothing to do with the issue of the open navigation of the Strait of Hormuz," Jian said. On Sunday, Trump told the Financial Times he might postpone the meeting if China did not