WASHINGTON, D.C. — China announced Monday it will not help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz as requested by President Donald Trump. President Trump's state visit to Beijing, originally scheduled for March 31, has been postponed as the U.S.-Iran conflict entered its third week.

Oil has stopped moving through the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. allies refused to step up to secure the waterway. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called for parties to immediately stop military operations, avoid further escalation of the tense situation and prevent regional turmoil from further impacting the global economy.

Beijing had never officially confirmed Trump's state visit but said that the two sides remain in communication. Beijing clarified that the postponement was not related to Trump's request for China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said that the Chinese were fine with the delay and that he had a very good working relationship with China.

"President Trump's request to delay his long-awaited summit with President Xi Jinping underscores how he underestimated the fallout from Operation Epic Fury," said Ali Wyne, senior research and advocacy adviser for U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group. "A show of U.S. force that was meant to intimidate Beijing has instead served to puncture the illusion of U.S. omnipotence: Unable to reopen the Strait of Hormuz alone, Washington now needs its principal strategic competitor to help it manage a crisis of its own making."

"The Iran request is now going to be less pressing for China to fulfill," said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center.

"The political environment is difficult for the United States to have the commander in chief travel abroad while managing military operations," said Brett Fetterly, managing principal in the China practice at The Asia Group. "On the Chinese side, it does not hurt to play for more time to better understand what exactly President Trump might want. Both sides needed some time to define the range of deliverables."

Chinese diplomats have been engaging with countries in the Middle East to ease tensions and restore peace. On Sunday, Beijing delivered to Iran an emergency humanitarian aid package of $200,000 through the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, earmarked for families of children and teachers killed in the bombing of the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school building in Minab, Iran.

Transfers of military assets from the Indo-Pacific region to the Middle East, including a sizable portion of Marines and an anti-missile defense system, have raised concerns that the United States could get distracted from refocusing on Asia. China has vowed to take Taiwan by force if necessary, while the United States is obligated by law to provide Taiwan with sufficient hardware to defend itself.