The United States spent four months building a legal and moral case against tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. On June 24, Trump called any fee on transiting shipping unacceptable. Marco Rubio, asked about the distinction between a fee and a toll, said there wasn’t one — it was an international waterway, and no nation on Earth supported paying to cross it. Washington told the Gulf states, told Singapore, told the European Commission, and told Beijing that the principle was not negotiable.

When the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi travels to Beijing, he does not travel light. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in the Chinese capital on April 12 accompanied by a delegation that reads less like a diplomatic retinue and more like a statement of intent: Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the man who runs both ADNOC and Mubadala; Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s energy policy architect; and Mohamed Alsuwaidi, the finance minister.