China the biggest buyer of Iranian and Venezuelan oil

PRC hacks into US Congress email system; British reporters’ coverage of Shenzhen protest swiftly halted

Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.

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The expected approval of Beijing’s ‘mega-embassy’ in London will be a welcome win for the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as the new year has ushered in some headache-inducing complications.

The PRC enjoys near-monopsonistic leverage as the primary buyer of both Iranian and Venezuelan oil. Over the years, sanctions on both of these countries were a large factor in the PRC becoming the dominant buyer of their oil. A few days after Nicolás Maduro, the now deposed President of Venezuela, was captured, commodity traders stated that the PRC would likely replace some of its purchase of Venezuelan oil for Iranian crude. However, on 12th January, Donald Trump, President of the United States (US) asserted that any country doing business with Iran will pay a tariff of 25% ‘on any and all business being done’ with the US.

Will the PRC be subjected to these tariffs, when a tentative truce was recently reached in the trade war between Washington and Beijing?

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