Lead
The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on a China-based oil terminal operator, its president, and two other entities over alleged involvement in trading Iranian petroleum and petroleum products. The action, announced by the US State Department, aims to disrupt what Washington describes as Iran's illicit oil trade, which it says funds terrorism and regional destabilisation.
In response, China's embassy in Washington urged the United States to stop what it called "abusing sanctions" that have no basis in international law, according to a statement from embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu carried by Russian state news agency TASS.
Coverage Comparison
Reporting on the sanctions came from two distinct angles. The South China Morning Post focused on the substance of the US action, detailing the entities and individuals designated and quoting the State Department's rationale. TASS, the Russian state news agency, centered its coverage on China's official response, quoting Liu Pengyu's remarks at length, as well as briefly noting the sanctions themselves.
Both outlets confirmed the core fact: the US sanctioned the operator of a Chinese marine terminal over imports of Iranian oil. However, the framing diverged—SCMP's report was anchored in the US official statement, while TASS placed the Chinese rebuttal at the forefront.
Key Claims
According to the State Department's announcement, as reported by the South China Morning Post, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd "imported tens of millions of barrels of sanctioned Iranian crude oil." Li Xinchun, a Chinese national and president of the terminal, was also sanctioned. Additionally, a Hong Kong-based vessel management company and a Britain-based commercial manager were named on the sanctions list.
The sanctions freeze all US-held assets of the designated entities and bar Americans from doing business with them, per the State Department's statement.
A claim carried by a single outlet, TASS, quotes Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu saying: "China opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law. Normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese companies and other countries should not be interfered with or undermined." He added, "We urge the US side to stop abusing sanctions, and will firmly safeguard the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies." This is the only direct Chinese government response reported in the available coverage.
Perspectives
US government perspective: The sanctions are a decisive measure to disrupt Iran's oil trade, which the State Department describes as the regime's primary revenue stream funding terrorism and destabilisation. The department said it would hold Iran and all its sanctions-evading partners accountable as long as Iran seeks to generate oil revenues for such activities.
Chinese government perspective: As articulated by Liu Pengyu, China views the sanctions as unilateral and an abuse of long-arm jurisdiction without basis in international law. Beijing asserts that normal economic and trade cooperation between Chinese companies and other countries should not be interfered with, and it will protect the lawful rights of Chinese companies.
Editor's note: The TASS report refers to the sanctioned entity as "Qindao Haiye Oil Terminal Co.," while the State Department's own statement, as quoted by the South China Morning Post, calls it "Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co." The discrepancy likely reflects a transliteration variation. This article uses the spelling from the official US statement.