, Columnist
China’s Sanctions Defiance Heralds a Post-Dollar World
A gray-zone economy. Photo: CN-STR/ AFP/Getty Images
The fight over US sanctions on China’s oil refining companies is being framed as a battle over high principles. In fact, it’s about raw power.
Beijing on Saturday ordered five domestic refiners to ignore US restrictions announced last month over their alleged connection to trade in Iranian oil. Those clashing legal mandates potentially create a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation for the firms, and for any banks, insurers, chemicals groups and shipping lines that deal with them. Do business with proscribed entities, and you’ll run afoul of US law; cut off ties, and you’ll break Chinese law.