Trump Responds: South Korea Seizes Chinese Tanker Leased by Taiwanese Company Accused of Selling Oil to North Korea

The world knows that President Trump doesn’t play. And our partners finally feel the protection that comes from being on Team America.

So when the Chinese violated the sanctions imposed on North Korea by selling them oil, South Korea reacted. 

According to The Telegraph,

South Korean authorities seized a Hong Kong tanker after it was found to have secretly transferred 600 tons of refined petroleum to a North Korean vessel in international waters in October, in a brazen breach of UN sanctions.

How did South Korea come by this information?

Acting on intelligence provided by the US – including surveillance photos of an exchange taken by satellite – South Korean customs officials boarded the vessel, the Lighthouse Winmore, when it entered Yeosu Port on November 24, Yonhap news reported.

The investigation has so far determined that the ship was chartered by a Taiwanese company, Billions Bunker Group, and had initially docked in Yeosu Port on October 11 to take on a cargo of Japanese refined petroleum before going on to its final declared destination of Taiwan four days later.

After leaving port, however, the Hong Kong ship met up with the Sam Jong 2, a 2,507-ton North Korean tanker, and three other unnamed ships in international waters in the East China Sea.

Enter Stage East: the Chinese.

We wrote of their part in this clandestine effort to get oil to North Korea:

We know China cheats. But at least now they will be held accountable.

While President Trump negotiates with other nations, he’s smart enough to realize that they will hold their best interests at heart. So this latest development likely gives him more ammunition to use with China.

As Fox News reports,

U.S. spy satellites reportedly captured photos of Chinese ships illegally selling oil to North Korean boats some 30 times since October.

Satellite images released by the U.S. Department of Treasury appeared to show vessels from both countries illegally trading oil in the West Sea, The Chosun Ilbo reported Tuesday, citing South Korean government sources.

So the world has order again. As the U.S. in conjunction with our NATO partner cooperated together to enforce sanctions.

Further, President Trump now has a “trump card” in his dealings with the Chinese.

The attempted exchange between the Chinese and the North Koreans violated United Nations Security Council resolution 2375. This resolution was adopted in September. And it forbids companies or organizations of member states to carry out the ship-to-ship transfer of any goods that are bound for North Korea.

 

 

And you can bet President Trump will have more to say on this subject, based on his tweet.

Earlier this month new sanctions were imposed on North Korea. Thus North Korea is only permitted to import 500,000 barrels of refined petroleum a year. This amount reduces the previous imports by 86 percent.

As for the Chinese response, let’s say “mud on face”.

The Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman was asked at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday whether Chinese ships were contravening the UN sanctions by providing oil to the North. He stated that China strictly enforces UN resolutions on North Korea.

“The situation you have mentioned absolutely does not exist”, Ren Guoqiang said, according to Reuters.

He declined to comment further on the issue. And as the world now knows, that’s a blatant lie.

As it stands, the South Koreans have a tanker filled with oil. Let’s see how this plays out on the diplomatic front in the very near future.

Americans celebrate the fact that Obama is out of the picture on this one. Because China would public sodomize the Sissy in Chief. But the Chinese will find dealing with President Trump a lot tougher.

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