China Pushes Back After Trump Tightens the Screws on Iran

China lashed out at the Trump administration’s new sanctions campaign against Iran on Tuesday, warning that it would defend its interests and accusing the United States of disrupting the global financial order. The reaction set the stage for renewed friction between the world’s superpowers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday outlined plans to “ sever every economic lifeline ” to Iran, targeting a constellation of players that continue to provide the country with a financial lifeline. But the administration appeared to tread carefully around China, by far the largest customer of Iran’s most valuable export: oil. The U.S. list of more than 60 brokers, companies and ships subject to sanctions included more than a dozen small companies from Hong Kong and mainland China. Conspicuously absent were heavyweights in China’s financial system — a sign, some experts said, that Washington was reluctant to jeopardize a fragile truce with China. Beijing nevertheless responded forcefully. China will “take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its own rights and interests,” Lin Jian, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said at a news briefing on Tuesday. Chinese state media went further. An editorial cartoon in China News portrayed the Statue of Liberty as a drug user with needles protruding from one arm, describing Washington’s use of sanctions as “an addiction.” The confrontational reaction underscored a dilemma for the Trump administration. Beijing has long defied American sanctions and continued to buy Iranian oil. At the same time, China supplied Tehran with raw materials and technology that support its economy and military. Yet nearly six months into a war with Iran, the United States has shown little appetite for opening another economic front with an increasingly retaliatory China. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .