This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge. 

Beijing has condemned the U.S. interception of sanctioned crude tankers off the Venezuelan coast after a China-bound oil tanker was seized on Saturday. Beijing said Venezuela has the right to conduct trade with other countries.

Reuters cited China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian at a regular press briefing, who said the US seizure of another country’s tanker was a serious violation of international law. Jian added that China opposes all “unilateral and illegal” sanctions.

On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard seized the Centuries, which was loaded with 1.8 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan crude and was flying under the false name “Crag.” The tanker was bound for China.

China is the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude, but Venezuelan oil accounts for only about 4% of China’s total crude imports.

Reuters reports that data this year show Venezuelan crude exports to China range from 400,000 to 580,000 barrels per day, depending on the period and shipping patterns.

A White House spokesperson told Reuters that the Centuries was a “falsely flagged vessel” and carried sanctioned oil that was part of Venezuela’s shadow fleet.

So far, the US has seized two sanctioned tankers. The first, VLCC Skipper, earlier this month. Skipper is set to be unloaded in the coming days at the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area (GOLA). After Saturday’s seizure, news hit late afternoon Sunday of US forces in pursuit of yet another tanker.

All of this fits within the Trump administration’s gunboat diplomacy foreign policy strategy, which is designed to accelerate regime instability in Caracas while materially weakening Cuba; the core objective is to disrupt financial flows, sever funding channels, and allow second- and third-order effects to follow.

Trump Orders A “Complete Blockade Of Sanctioned Oil Tankers” Coming In and Out Of Venezuela