Following reports this week that Chinese ships were violating UN sanctions on North Korea, China was quick to push back on the allegations. On Wednesday, while the foreign ministry questioned the veracity of the reports, Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Ren Guoaiang was less equivocal.
“The situation you have mentioned absolutely does not exist,” Ren was quoted as saying.
The US president had something to say about that. Trump began a tweet Thursday with the words “caught RED HANDED,” in an apparent reference to the earlier media reports of Chinese involvement in illicit ship-to-ship oil transfers.
Caught RED HANDED – very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2017
Trump added in a separate interview with the New York Times on the same day that “I have been soft on China because the only thing more important to me than trade is war,” implying his trade policy was tied to China’s cooperation on North Korea.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying addressed the issue for a second day in a row at a regular press briefing on Friday, following Trump’s complaint.
“The Chinese side has conducted immediate investigation. In reality, the ship in question has, since August, not docked at a Chinese port and there is no record of it entering or leaving a Chinese port,” Hua was quoted as saying. She added that the media reports in question “did not accord with facts.”
“If, through investigation, it’s confirmed there are violations of the U.N. Security Council resolutions, China will deal with them seriously in accordance with laws and regulations.”
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2126131/south-korea-seizes-hong-kong-tanker-after-oil-delivery
Taiwanese’s chartered ship; japanese oil products; S. Korea’s loading port!
Where is China?
China created this monstrosity and are happy to see an economic rival nuked in a war that will debilitate and destroy their economy. It is way over time to shun Chinese goods. The Chinese are only interested in being an economic behemoth. Hit them were it hurts.
jumping to conclusion.
The trumpeter should apply more of his economic sanction regime abroad to cover Taiwanese ship, Japanese refined oil, Chinese laborers, Russian oil etc. in his net catching the Xi dude red handed.
Trump’s tweet is one of the strongest responses from the US and South Korea. He concluded that China was caught before the truth was clarified and commented in a strong tone. This is not how a US president should behave.
As it turned out, the ships were not from China.
NK is China’s psychopathic ego, in the form of a puppet.
Eyes in the Sky, do not lie.
Chinese Communist Party betrays the people of China, and support a killing regime in NK.
Sad and shortsighted. I thought the Chinese Communist Party was smarter.
NOPE!
Explain why an Indian like you chose to have a German name. Are you try to mislead people? Another coward!
Irene Cassandra It’s a play on the name of a fictionall character. That character is also not German.
So you have better info. Please advise us..
Chinese are blatant liars! China has never helped Pakistan in its difficult times!
America has been giving billions of dollars to Pakistan! Ever since the times of Ayub Khan
There are about 20 or more North Korean people languishing under the despotic ruler in north
What do you expect? The Communist Party Government of China does not honor their own signed agreement and even disrespects International Law.. ????
You can’t trust their words and even their own signatures.. ????
Their actions speaks louder than words.. ????
THIS IS WHAT WAR ABOUT …BASED ON LIES AND PROPAGANDA,,,,,,WHO WAS SUPPORTING ISIS…..BOTTOM LINE WHO CONTROL ASIA …EVERYBODY IN THAT REGION LOOKS CHINESE SO I GUESS CHINA WILL TAKE CARE OF HER OWN SHE HAS A LOT TO LOSE BY NOT DOING SO.REALITY IS SHE ARE THE POWER HOUSE ON THAT SIDE ( REALITY )
You have to ransack facts and evidences before booking any body .If you disbelieve denial you have to produce concrete proof before arriving at a conclusion.
That is China’s denial diplomacy. China never accept any wrong doings and violations of international laws.
Like money laundering it will be almost impossible to trace who actually sold the oil to North Korea.Oil tankers register under ‘flags of convinience’ and are owned by people of every country, crews are usually from 3rd countries for cheapness and know nothing about the ownership of the vessels they are on, a lot of oil is sold on the ‘spot’ market from tankers already loaded with product, and through multiple brokers.Even a US citizen could be involved in this trade. What is suspicious is transferring the oil to NK tankers at sea , a deliberate breaking the embargo.So the vessels should be impounded whilst true ownership is resolved through the maze of offshore companies. Trump hopefully tweeted his comment based on better intel than the media, supposidely he has the best intel in the world available to him.