China won’t help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz as requested by Donald Trump, but it is probably welcoming the delay in Trump’s highly anticipated trip to Beijing as the U.S. risks getting bogged down in the Middle East, analysts say.

The latest developments are unfolding as Trump’s Iran war, in its third week, is faced with mounting pressure as oil has stopped moving through the strait and U.S. allies have refused to step up to secure the strait. That has produced concerns that China, the United States’ biggest geopolitical rival, could stand to benefit from a war that some say was ill-considered.