Seizure of oil tankers
China condemns US actions against Venezuela
12/22/2025 – 4:27 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The USA is taking ever tougher action against Venezuela and has recently seized oil tankers off the coast. Now China is getting involved.
China has sharply criticized the US seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing on Monday that the USA had seriously violated international law by capturing the ship intended for China. Venezuela has the right to maintain relations with other countries.
The People’s Republic rejects all “unilateral and illegal” sanctions. The US Coast Guard intercepted a second oil tanker in international waters on Saturday. US President Donald Trump had previously announced a “blockade” for all sanctioned tankers that arrive or depart from Venezuela.
The ship seized on Saturday was the tanker “Centuries,” which according to documents was sailing under the false name “Crag.” He had therefore loaded around 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil of the Merey variety. A spokesman for the US presidential office said the “false-flag ship” was carrying sanctioned oil and was part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet designed to evade punitive measures.
The government in Caracas described the capture of the tanker as a “serious act of international piracy.” Since the U.S. imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders have used a “shadow fleet” of tankers that often disguise their location. China is the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil, accounting for about four percent of its imports.
The US government accuses Venezuela’s left-wing nationalist President Nicolás Maduro of supporting the drug trade and thereby endangering the national security of the United States. It has assembled military units in the region and has repeatedly attacked boats off the Venezuelan coast that are said to have been smuggling drugs. Maduro accuses the US of trying to overthrow him.
