In the new war in the Middle East – the one that comes from the attacks by the United States and Israel (or Israel and the United States) on Iran -, some analysts also want to see, on Washington’s side, an indirect attack against China.
Officially, according to the General Administration of Customs in Beijing, the main oil suppliers to the country are Russia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iraq and Brazil, which account for 62% of the oil imported by China. Next come the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Angola, Kuwait and Canada, responsible for another 24%. And finally, under the heading of “other countries”, the missing 14%. Neither Iran nor Venezuela are on the list.
…And yet, several sources give Iran and Venezuela as oil exporters to China (1,380,000 barrels from Iran and 389,000 barrels from Venezuela); but because of the sanctions to which they are subject and the respectability of the People’s Republic of China, the shipments, whether from Iran or Venezuela, appear diluted under the heading “other countries” or as being from other origins. For example, crude oil coming from Malaysia officially appears to correspond to 1,300,000 barrels/day, which is higher than Malaysian production. For the firm Kpler, dedicated to the study of oil trade, in 2025 Iran and Venezuela supplied 17% of the oil imported by China; that is, 87% of Iranian production and 55% of Venezuelan production went to China.
To fill the recent void, the PRC currently has stored reserves and the possibility of importing more oil from Russia.
With the capture of Maduro, Washington began to exercise economic tutelage over Caracas. In February, the American Secretary of State for Energy, Chris Wright, visited the Venezuelan capital to regulate oil destinations; and, after the attacks on Tehran, it was the turn of the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, to negotiate the sale, through the state-owned Minerven, of 650 to 1 thousand kilos of gold bars to Trafigura. It’s a big deal at a time when gold is worth $166,000 a kilo. Meanwhile, the purchase of oil, also carried out by Trafigura, reached US$ 1 billion.
In his usual style, Trump celebrated the deal on the Truth Social network:
“The oil is beginning to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between both countries is a very nice thing to see!”
China and Russia have been relatively cautious and moderate in reacting to the American intervention in Iran – in this regard, the new great power world order appears to be working. But critics on the Right of the operation “Epic Fury” have warned Trump to be careful in the energy siege of China, remembering what happened to Japan on the eve of World War II:
In 1939, Japan imported 80% of the oil it consumed from the USA, which, at that time of war with China, was vital; but the American embargo came and, on July 26, 1941, after the Japanese advance in Indochina, FD Roosevelt ordered the freezing of Japanese resources in the United States. After the embargo and freeze, Washington declared that it would only lift them if the Japanese withdrew troops from China. And faced with the ultimatum, Tokyo decided to try its luck in war.
Conservatives critical of Trumpist policies and the temptation of an economic and energy war against China remember President Pearl Harbor.
The author writes according to the old spelling
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