China on Friday denied reports it has been illicitly selling oil products to North Korea, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not happy that Beijing for allowing oil to reach the isolated nation.
Trump said on Twitter on Thursday that China had been “caught” allowing oil into North Korea and that would prevent “a friendly solution” to the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
“I have been soft on China because the only thing more important to me than trade is war,” Trump said in a separate interview with The New York Times.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters she had noted recent media reports including suggestions a Chinese vessel was suspected of transporting oil to a North Korean vessel on Oct. 19.
“The Chinese side has conducted immediate investigation.
“In reality, the ship in question has, since August, not docked at any Chinese port and there is no record of it entering or leaving a Chinese port,” Hua said.
She said she was not aware if the vessel had docked at the port in other countries but the relevant media reports “did not accord with facts”.
“China has always implemented UN Security Council resolutions pertaining to North Korea in their entirety and fulfils its international obligations.
“We never allow Chinese companies and citizens to violate the resolutions.
“If, through investigation, it’s confirmed there are violations of the UN Security Council resolutions, China will deal with them seriously in accordance with laws and regulations,” Hua said.
In the New York Times interview, Trump explicitly tied his administration’s trade policy with China to its perceived cooperation in resolving the North Korea nuclear crisis.
“When I campaigned, I was very tough on China in terms of trade. They made 2016, we had a trade deficit with China of 350 billion dollars, minimum.
“That doesn’t include the theft of intellectual property, O.K., which is another 300 billion dollars,” Trump said, according to a transcript of the interview.
“If they’re helping me with North Korea, I can look at trade a little bit differently, at least for a period of time.
“That’s what I’ve been doing. But when oil is going in, I‘m not happy about that.”
An official of the State Department said the U.S. government was aware of vessels engaged in such activity involving refined petroleum and coal.
“We have evidence that some of the vessels engaged in these activities are owned by companies in several countries, including China,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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