China on Thursday accused the United States and Israel of being responsible for the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump urged countries dependent on the waterway to secure it themselves.

“The root cause of interruptions to navigation through the Strait of Hormuz is the United States and Israel’s illegal military operations against Iran,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.

Her remarks came in response to Trump’s comments a day earlier, when he said nations reliant on the strait for oil supplies “must take care of that passage,” adding they should “just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves.”