US House committee calls for major crackdown on China’s alleged sanctioned oil imports

Lawmakers in the United States have urged the administration of US President Donald Trump to take action against China’s alleged sanctioned oil imports by blacklisting port operators and blocking complex settlement networks.Despite Washington’s temporary easing of sanctions on Russian and Iranian oil to relieve price pressures from the US-Israeli war in Iran, the “House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party” has released a 41-page report calling for a wide-ranging crackdown on China’s access to sanctioned crude.The committee – a bipartisan panel charged with investigating and developing policies to address challenges posed by Beijing – warned that current enforcement gaps had to be closed.Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US, told the China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post via email on Thursday that Beijing consistently opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdictions that lack any basis in international law or a mandate from the UN Security Council.“The normal economic, trade and energy cooperation between China and the relevant countries does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or affected,” Liu said.“China will resolutely safeguard its energy security and the legitimate rights and interests of its enterprises and citizens.”