China’s UN envoy blasts US ‘bullying’ as sanctions widen before Trump-Xi talks

China’s top UN diplomat slammed the US on Friday over its coercive behaviour, sanctioning of Chinese vessels and firms and for starting the Iran war along with Israel as Beijing assumed the rotating one-month presidency of the UN Security Council.The verbal blast came as Washington heaped more pressure on China on Friday by sanctioning a China-based petroleum terminal operator, the latest in a string of recent US moves to cut off Chinese funding to Iran under what the White House has dubbed Operation Economic Fury.“We don’t believe it’s fair to sanction Chinese ships or companies,” Fu Cong, China’s punchy UN ambassador, told reporters. “The Iran war is the biggest example of the rise of unilateralism, power politics and some bullying practice by certain partners. And it is dealing heavy blows to the rule of law in international affairs.”