After Trump accusation, China denies illegal oil sales to North Korea

China denied on Friday that it has been illegally selling oil to North Korea, after President Trump leveled the allegation against Beijing on Twitter.

A spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry insisted that Beijing has worked to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding sanctions against North Korea and that reports indicating otherwise were incorrect.

“China has always implemented U.N. Security Council resolutions pertaining to North Korea in their entirety and fulfils its international obligations,” spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, according to Reuters.

{mosads}

“We never allow Chinese companies and citizens to violate the resolutions,” she added. 

The Chinese denial came a day after Trump accused China of “allowing oil to go into North Korea,” saying that Beijing had been caught “RED HANDED” and that he was “very disappointed” by the development.

Trump’s tweet appeared to be in reference to a report published in a South Korean newspaper, claiming that U.S. spy satellites had picked up a Chinese ship transferring oil to North Korea at sea. U.S. officials have not confirmed that report.

Trump later acknowledged in a New York Times interview that he saw the report on Fox News.

“It was very recently,” the president told the Times. “In fact, I hate to say, it was reported this morning, and it was reported on Fox.”

“In reality, the ship in question has, since August, not docked at a Chinese port and there is no record of it entering or leaving a Chinese port,” Hua said, according to Reuters.

Trump has vowed to put pressure on Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. But, at times, he has appeared to grow frustrated with those efforts, accusing China of failing to do enough to curb Pyongyang’s activities.