China has condemned US threats to impose secondary sanctions on two Chinese banks, calling any such measures “illegal” and lacking UN Security Council authorisation.
“China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions without the authorisation of the UN Security Council,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a regular news conference in Beijing.
Guo’s remarks came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday during a briefing that the US has sent letters to two Chinese banks stating, “If we can prove that there is Iranian money flowing through your accounts, then we are willing to put on secondary sanctions.”
Bessent said that China used to purchase more than 90 percent of Iranian oil, which was about 8 percent of China’s energy needs.
“We have told countries that if you are buying Iranian oil, if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions,” Bessent told reporters at the White House.