Chinese oil tanker
The Guardian: Why is China hiding its oil tankers from US trackers?
Signs Beijing may be importing Iranian oil as Trump’s two biggest foreign policy headaches converge.
In early June, a Chinese-owned supertanker abruptly went dark in the Indian Ocean, the tracking system signalling its course apparently deactivated.
It was not the first ship to vanish from the monitors. The deactivation of transponders that generate a unique ID issued to ships by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has become increasingly familiar in recent weeks to the companies that track tankers.
The Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to track tankers linked to China’s biggest state-run oil company in response to signs that the vessels are helping to transport Iranian crude in defiance of US sanctions against Tehran.
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WNU Editor: I smell Iran sanction busting.
Like I said, look for Chinese naval units in the Persian gulf.
ReplyDeleteThe question will be can China afford the costs of this going to it's logical conclusion?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is no.
I hope your guess is right. I would also ask can the US afford the costs of this going to it's logical conclusion. If the logical conclusion is war, then I have my doubts that the US can actually win such a war let alone actually afford it.
ReplyDeleteINHO much of the assumptions in world stock markets are based upon the assumption that China will not escalate this to war. If this assumption were to change, I think the world stock markets might act differently.
Poster,
DeleteAnybody can win or lose any war. It depends on what war, who fights it, with what and how. It's the great unknown, but they will be fought as sure as the sun rises. China has a lot more strategic liabilities than the US which in general should win, but it is the great unknown and it is fought by people who by nature are imperfect.