China Denies Trump Claims of Illicit Oil Sales to North Korea

One day after another incendiary tweet from President Trump torpedoing foreign diplomacy, China on Friday officially denied reports that it has been illicitly selling oil products to North Korea. “Caught RED HANDED,” Trump tweeted Thursday, citing a Fox News report. “Very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denied Trump’s allegations. “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. “The Chinese side has conducted immediate investigation,” noting that the relevant media reports claiming evidence of the illicit sales “did not accord with facts.” In a separate interview with The New York Times, Trump said, “I have been soft on China because the only thing more important to me than trade is war.”