Chinese President Xi Jinping told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that free passage through the Strait of Hormuz must be guaranteed. Diplomatically put: enough is enough. The two spoke by phone as tensions around Iran rise to a boiling point.

China is calling for an urgent and comprehensive ceasefire and a diplomatic resolution to the Middle Eastern conflicts. Behind the formal words stands simple math: 20% of the world's oil and gas trade passes through Hormuz. When Beijing talks about free passage, it's talking about its own tankers, its own factories, its own economy.

On the other side, Donald Trump leaves no room for diplomatic ambiguity. If Iran rejects the proposed deal, American forces will strike bridges, power plants, and critical infrastructure. The entire country will be destroyed, Trump warned, calling the deal fair and reasonable - a phrase that sounds familiar every time the stronger party offers a choice to the weaker one.

Hormuz is not some distant strait on a map. Every crisis there directly hits energy prices worldwide - including in the Balkans, where dependence on energy imports is a reality for every country in the region. When China and America measure their strength over the Iran question, we're not spectators - we're consumers who'll pay the bill.