Beijing condemns interception of Venezuelan oil tankers and criticizes US sanctions

The interception of Venezuelan oil tankers by the United States provoked an immediate reaction from China, which classified the action as a serious violation of international law. In a statement made this Monday (22), the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the seizure of ships from other countries in international waters is arbitrary and has no legal support.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, Venezuela has the sovereign right to maintain trade relations with other countries, and Beijing opposes unilateral sanctions that are not authorized by the United Nations Security Council. “The arbitrary detention of vessels from other nations by the United States constitutes a serious violation of international law,” Jian said during a daily briefing, adding that China rejects “illegal and unilateral” sanctions.

The demonstration occurs after the United States Coast Guard intercepted, on Saturday (20), a second oil tanker in international waters close to the coast of Venezuela. The seizure came just days after President Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned ships entering or leaving the South American country.

According to documents cited by sources, the vessel Centuries had loaded oil in Venezuela using the false name “Crag” and was transporting around 1.8 million barrels of crude oil from the Merey field bound for China. The cargo would have been acquired by Satau Tijana Oil Trading, one of the intermediaries involved in the sales of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA to independent Chinese refineries.

The White House stated, through a spokesperson, that the vessel used a false flag, transported oil subject to sanctions and was part of Venezuela’s so-called parallel fleet. The Venezuelan government reacted by classifying the action as a “serious act of international piracy” and denounced what it considers to be deliberate attacks against its oil tankers.

China is currently the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil, accounting for around 4% of its total imports, which gives additional economic and diplomatic weight to Beijing’s reaction to the actions taken by Washington.