Andrea Sharal
WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) – China has become an unreliable global partner by hoarding oil supplies and restricting exports of certain goods during wars in the Middle East, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday, echoing its actions on medical goods during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bessant told reporters he had spoken with Chinese officials about the issue. He declined to answer a question about whether the dispute would derail U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to visit Beijing in mid-May, but said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have a very good working relationship.
“I think the message of this visit is stability. Our relationship has been very stable since last summer; it’s from the top down,” he said. “I think communication is key.”
But Bessant blames China’s actions during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran for causing oil prices to rise by as much as 50% and triggering supply chain disruptions.
“China has become an unreliable global partner three times in the past five years; once during the COVID-19 pandemic when they hoarded healthcare products and the second time with rare earths,” Bessant said, referring to Beijing’s threat last year to limit rare earth exports.
Now it is storing more oil, he said, instead of helping alleviate a global demand shortfall caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of the world’s oil.
China already has strategic oil reserves roughly the same size as the entire reserves of the International Energy Agency’s 32 member countries, but it continues to buy oil. “They have continued to buy, they have been hoarding and they have cut off the export of many products,” Bessant said.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said the shortfall facing global energy markets was rooted in “tensions in the Middle East” and called for an immediate halt to military operations there.
“The top priority is to immediately stop military operations to prevent turmoil in the Middle East from further affecting the global economy,” Liu said, adding that China has been actively working to end the conflict and will “continue to play a constructive role.”
The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and International Energy Agency on Monday urged countries to avoid hoarding energy supplies and imposing export controls that could exacerbate what they called the biggest shock ever to global energy markets. They did not identify specific countries.
The U.S. military on Monday began blocking ships leaving Iranian ports after talks to end the war collapsed in Islamabad over the weekend, with Tehran threatening to retaliate against its Gulf neighbor’s ports. Oil prices are back above $100 a barrel, but there are no signs that the strait will reopen quickly.
Bessant earlier told reporters that the blockade would ensure that no Chinese or other vessels would be allowed to pass through the strait. “So they can’t get oil. They can get oil, but it’s not Iranian oil,” Bessant said, adding that China has been buying more than 90 percent of Iranian oil, accounting for about 8 percent of its annual purchases.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Andrea Ricci)