BEIJING: China on Friday rejected accusations that it had helped Pyongyangskirt sanctions after US President Donald Trump claimed on Twitter thatBeijing was turning a blind eye to oil transfers to North Korea.

Trump´s tweet was the latest salvo in his battle to persuade China totighten the economic screws on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclearprogramme, in a campaign that has seen him heap both praise and criticismon Beijing.

“Caught RED HANDED – very disappointed that China is allowing oil to gointo North Korea,” Trump wrote Thursday. “There will never be a friendlysolution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!”

The United Nations — at the urging of the US — has imposed a series ofsanctions against North Korea aimed at getting it to halt its weaponsdevelopment.

China has supported the moves, but critics claim it is not rigidlyenforcing the sanctions, fearful that too much pressure will cause theunpredictable regime to collapse.

South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, citing government sources in Seoul,reported earlier this week that US satellites had spotted Chinese shipsselling oil to North Korean vessels at sea dozens of times since October.

“The recent series of reports on this situation do not conform with thefacts”, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, adding thatBeijing did not allow its “citizens or companies to engage in anyactivities that violate” UN resolutions.

Hua said China had looked into the report of a Chinese ship transferringoil to a North Korean vessel and found it to be inaccurate.

“There is no record of the (Chinese) vessel visiting a Chinese port” sinceAugust, she said.

“I think making pointless hype through the media is not conducive toenhancing mutual trust and cooperation.”

A defiant Pyongyang has said there is no possibility of its weaponsprogrammes being rolled back, and that they have been developed to defendagainst what it terms aggression by the US and its allies.

Washington insists a resolution of the crisis on the Korean peninsuladepends on the North´s denuclearisation.

´Shrewd´ breaches

The United Nations Security Council last week imposed new sanctions onPyongyang further restricting oil supplies, and ordering North Koreannationals working abroad to be sent back by the end of 2019.

It was not immediately clear what prompted Trump´s tweet, or if he wasaccusing China — the North´s main ally — of directly violating sanctionstargeting Pyongyang.

A State Department official later said the US was aware that “certainvessels have engaged in UN-prohibited activities, including ship-to-shiptransfers of refined petroleum and the transport of coal from North Korea.”

“We have evidence that some of the vessels engaged in these activities areowned by companies in several countries, including China,” the seniorofficial said.

Separately, a foreign ministry official in Seoul said Friday that a HongKong-registered vessel was seized and inspected in November fortransferring oil products to a North Korean ship in breach of UN sanctions.

The official described the incident as Pyongyang “shrewdly circumventing”sanctions, adding that South Korea had shared intelligence on the case withthe US.

´No good for China´

In recent months, the White House has praised Beijing for its efforts totame North Korea, and China has voted in favour of three UN SecurityCouncil resolutions strengthening sanctions against the North.

But Washington, convinced that only Chinese pressure will persuade NorthKorean leader Kim Jong-Un to back down, has demanded that Beijing do more.

“China has a tremendous power over North Korea. Far greater than anyoneknows,” Trump told the New York Times in an interview Thursday.

The US president hinted at the possibility of trade action against Chinaover the matter.

“Oil is going into North Korea. That wasn´t my deal!” he said. “If theydon´t help us with North Korea, then I do what I´ve always said I want todo.”

Describing Kim regime as a “nuclear menace” that is “no good for China”,Trump added that Chinese President Xi Jinping´s government has to “help usmuch more.”

The UN Security Council on Thursday meanwhile denied international portaccess to four ships — three registered in North Korea and a fourth inPalau — suspected of carrying or having transported goods banned byinternational sanctions targeting Pyongyang, according to the final listadopted by the world body.

Diplomats had said on Thursday that all four were North Korean vessels.

The ban of the four vessels brings the UN´s total number of blocked shipsto eight.