Donald Trump rips China for North Korea oil sales

DONALD Trump has attacked China following reports that Chinese ships improperly transferred oil to North Korean vessels at sea — and there’s proof.

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has attacked China following reports that Chinese ships improperly transferred oil to North Korean vessels at sea, saying there “will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!”

Mr Trump said on Twitter Thursday that China had been “Caught RED HANDED,” adding he was “very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea.”

Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2017

Trump then went on to remind the world that he’s long warned about the dangers posed by North Korea’s nuclear program.

Trump tweeted a compilation video that includes edited footage of an interview he did with NBC’s “Meet the Press” nearly two decades ago.

I've been saying it for a long, long time. #NoKo pic.twitter.com/LQl7tGhMdO

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2017

In the interview, Trump said he’d be willing to launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea if negotiating “like crazy” didn’t work.

And he describes the country as “sort of wacko.” Trump tweets that he’s “been saying it for a long, long time. (hash)NoKo.”

The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo cited unidentified officials this week as saying Chinese ships transferred oil to North Korean vessels some 30 times since October.

The article made reference to satellite images released by the US Treasury Department last month, which US officials said showed North Korean vessels attempting to conduct a ship-to-ship transfer.

“North Korea is known to employ deceptive shipping practices, including ship-to-ship transfers, a practice prohibited by [international sanctions against North Korea],” the department said in a statement last month.

US satellite images taken in October, sohwing a North Korean vessel trying to conduct a ship-to-ship transfer. Picture: US Treasury

China’s foreign ministry has defended its enforcement of UN sanctions.

A ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday she had no information about the latest report, but said China has strictly enforced trade restrictions.

It was not immediately clear if Trump was referring to the report or US intelligence in his tweet, or if he was accusing China -- the North’s main ally -- of directly violating sanctions targeting Pyongyang.

US President Donald Trump shaking hands with China's President Xi Jinping in November. Picture: AFP

Last week, the United Nations Security Council -- with China’s backing -- slapped new sanctions on North Korea that will restrict oil supplies vital for Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programs.

The US-drafted resolution bans the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to North Korea, puts a cap on crude deliveries and orders North Korean nationals working abroad to be sent back by the end of 2019.

China is Pyongyang’s main oil supplier.

Ship-to-ship trade with North Korea at sea is prohibited under UN sanctions adopted September. 11.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a launching drill of the medium-and-long range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location. Picture: KCNA/AFP

The latest sanctions adopted Friday, in response to the test of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile, also impose sharp reductions on imports of refined oil products by the isolated nation.

Last month, the Treasury Department sanctioned six North Korean shipping and trading companies and 20 of their vessels, and published photos of what it said was a North Korean vessel on October 19 possibly transferring oil to evade sanctions. The statement did not specify whether Chinese vessels were involved in the transfer.

Trump has blown hot and cold on China’s efforts on North Korea, which despite a dramatic increase in sanctions has made major progress this year on perfecting a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from right, inspects the preparation of the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Picture: KCNA/AFP

On December 15, Trump said Russia - another significant trading partner with North Korea - had failed to help, while China had.

“China is helping. Russia is not helping. We’d like to have Russia’s help - very important,” Trump told reporters after a phone conversation with President Vladimir Putin.

In recent months, Trump’s administration has praised Beijing for its efforts to tame North Korea. China has voted in favour of three UN Security Council resolutions strengthening sanctions on the North since the summer.

Washington remains convinced that only pressure from the government of Chinese President Xi Jinping will persuade Kim to back down and negotiate an end to the nuclear standoff.

Beijing “has applied certain import bans and sanctions, but it could and should do more,” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday in a column published in The New York Times.