BEIJING, Dec 22 – China's foreign ministry stated on Monday that the U.S. seizure of ships from other countries is a serious breach of international law. This follows the U.S. intercepting an oil tanker heading to China near the coast of Venezuela.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, emphasized during a daily briefing that Venezuela has the right to build relations with other nations and that China opposes all "unilateral and illegal" sanctions.

On Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard stopped a second oil tanker in international waters off Venezuela's coast. This occurred just days after President Donald Trump declared a "blockade" on all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela.

The intercepted tanker, named Centuries, was loaded in Venezuela under the false name "Crag" and was carrying approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey crude oil intended for China, according to documents.

The crude oil was purchased by Satau Tijana Oil Trading, one of several intermediaries involved in the sales from Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA to independent refiners in China.

A spokesperson from the White House noted that the "falsely flagged vessel" was transporting sanctioned oil and was part of Venezuela's shadow fleet.

The Venezuelan government described the interception of the tanker as a "serious act of international piracy."

China is the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil, which makes up about 4% of its total imports.