The United States “must answer for their theft of oil” in Syria, insists Chinese diplomacy.
Published on 18.1.2023
RT reports that during a press briefing on January 17, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin strongly denounced the attitude of the American forces illegally deployed in Syria.
Asked by the Chinese public channel CCTV, which took up information from the Syrian news agency Sana, according to which the American forces had brought out of Syria “a convoy made up of 53 tanker trucks loaded with stolen Syrian oil” towards their bases in Iraq, Wang Wenbin said China was struck “by the blatant nature of the looting of Syria by the United States”.
80% of Syrian oil production smuggled out by GIs
According to Syrian government data, during the first half of 2022, more than 80% of Syria’s daily oil production was smuggled out of the country by US occupation troops.
For the spokesman, this “banditry aggravates the energy crisis and the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria”.
“The Syrian people’s right to life is being ruthlessly trampled on by the United States. With little oil and food, the Syrian people are struggling even more to get through the harsh winter,” reads the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.
“Whether the United States gives or takes, it plunges other countries into turmoil and disaster, and the United States reaps the benefits of its hegemony and other interests,” he said. believe that the United States “must answer for their theft of oil”.
“We urge the United States to stop trampling on the international rule of law and breaking international rules,” he concluded.
Hundreds of American soldiers still present on Syrian soil
The American presence in Syria is regularly denounced by Damascus.
Last October, American soldiers did not hesitate to carry out an operation directly in the territories controlled by the Syrian government.
Despite a partial withdrawal announced with drums and trumpets by Donald Trump in 2019, the American army has not completely left the country.
According to the latest news, around 900 soldiers remained, present mainly in the northeast under the control of Kurdish forces, under the pretext of providing them with logistical and military aid.
But Damascus actually accuses these troops of plundering the country’s natural resources, evacuating Syrian oil via their bases in Iraq.
