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The US on Friday sanctioned a China-based crude oil terminal operator for importing petroleum products from Iranian entities and warned others of facing the same consequences if they paid a toll to Tehran to cross the Strait of Hormuz. "The US is taking decisive action to disrupt Iran's illicit oil trade, the Iranian regime's primary revenue streams that fund terrorism and regional destabilization," US Department of State spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement. Pigott said the department sanctioned multiple entities, an individual, and a vessel involved in the trade of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products. The action targets a China-based petroleum terminal operator - Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd. - that has imported tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian crude oil since February last year. The US also sanctioned Xingchun Li, a Chinese national and the president of QINGDAO HAIYE, and two vessel management companies UK-based Thriving Times International an
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The move, announced Friday and first reported by The Associated Press, makes good on the Trump administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on companies and countries that do business with Iran. It's also part of the Republican administration's overall ramped-up campaign to cut off Iran's key source of revenue - its oil exports. Concurrently, the US this month imposed a physical blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies. These sanctions come just a few weeks before President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping are due to meet in China. Included in Friday's sanctions is Hengli Petrochemical's facility in the port city of Dalian, which has a processing capacity of roughly 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it one of the biggest ...
President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed that China has agreed not to provide weapons to Iran as reports circulate that Beijing has considered transferring arms. Trump wrote in a social media post that China is "very happy that I am permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz." He added: "They have agreed not to send weapons to Iran." He seemed to suggest the two are linked. The president had told an interviewer on Tuesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping had denied sending weapons to Iran. China's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly denied in recent days that the country is providing any form of military support to Iran.
In 2011, President Barack Obama declared it was time for America to leave behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and "pivot" to Asia to counter the rise of China. Fifteen years later, the US finds itself still at war in the Middle East and has pulled military assets from the Asia-Pacific as it aims to eliminate the threat posed by Iran's nuclear and missile programs. The demands of the Iran war also caused President Donald Trump to delay by several weeks his highly anticipated trip to China, deepening worries that the US is once again getting distracted at the cost of its strategic interests in Asia, where Beijing seeks to unseat the US as the regional leader. Those skeptical of the US involvement in the Middle East say the war is preventing Trump from adequately preparing for his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month, when economic interests are on the line, and they warn that a failure to focus on Asia and maintain strong deterrence could lead to greater instability, if
With a fragile ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran holding for now, China is calculating its role in helping find a durable endgame to the war in the Middle East. After prodding China, which is more reliant on Persian Gulf oil than the US, to get involved in reopening the choked-off Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump told French news outlet Agence France-Presse this week that he believed China played a part in encouraging Iran to agree to this week's temporary truce. Three diplomats who were familiar with China's behind-the-scenes efforts also confirmed that Beijing, the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil, used its leverage to urge the Iranians back to the negotiating table. It was a major moment for Beijing, which had decried the US and Israel's war against its economic partner Iran as misguided before getting directly involved in the push to call off the fighting, including discouraging strikes by Iran. Talks between the sides are expected to begin in Pakistan this
The US on Thursday voiced concerns about over detentions of Panama-flagged vessels by China saying such "bullying" destabilises supply chains, raises costs and erodes confidence in the global trading system. "The United States stands with Panama against any retaliatory actions against its sovereignty and will always support our partners in the face of bullying," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X. "The United States stands firmly with Panama and looks forward to increasing our economic and security cooperation with this important partner," the Department of State said in a statement. The statement came after China reportedly detained Panama-flagged ships for inspections at Chinese ports. US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit China on May 14-15. China's action came in the wake of Panama cancelling contracts of Hong Kong-based C K Hutchison to operate two port terminals near the Panama Canal on direction of the Supreme Court and transferred interim operatio
US President Donald Trump will travel to China on May 14 and 15 for a rescheduled summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the White House announced on Wednesday. Trump, who was earlier scheduled to travel to Beijing by the end of this month, postponed his trip due to the war in Iran. Announcing Trump's "long-awaited" trip to China, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US president and First Lady Melania will also host President Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for a reciprocal visit to Washington DC at a later date this year. Responding to a question if the two leaders spoke about the conclusion of the war as a precondition to reschedule this meeting, she answered there was no discussion about the rescheduling of the meeting between the president and Xi. "President Xi understood that it's very important for the president to be here throughout the region right now. He understood, obviously, the request to postpone and accept it, which is why we have a meeting,"