US sanctions 10 Chinese shipping companies

The US sanctioned 10 Chinese shipping companies on Wednesday that it claimed were transporting Iranian oil.

The US State Department claimed that the companies, based in Hong Kong and the mainland, plus eight tankers, were operating against US sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

The move effectively freezes the companies' assets in the US, and would prohibit US companies and individuals from doing business with them.

The Foreign Ministry of China has consistently opposed illegal unilateral sanctions and "long-arm jurisdiction" that lack a basis in international law and urged the US to halt such wrongful practices.

"One day, the word of the day is 'ban'. The next day, the word of the day is 'block'. In effect, they mean the same: The US seems drunk with enthusiasm in its zeal to use such unilateral measures. Yet the more the White House keeps delivering the same message, the less interest people have," Anthony Moretti, and associate professor in the Communication and Organizational Leadership Department at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, told China Daily.

"In effect, these bans and blocks offer the administration a sense of toughness, but that image is not what one international country after another thinks of the US right now. There appears to be no strategy to truly deal with these issues," Moretti said.

Two Iranian insurance companies — Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority — were also sanctioned after being accused of forcing commercial vessels to purchase maritime insurance if they want safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

About 20 percent of the world's oil was transported through the Strait of Hormuz before hostilities between the US and Iran began on Feb 28. That has now slowed to a mere trickle.

More than 100 tankers have now been sanctioned by the Trump administration for allegedly trying to break the US blockade on Iranian ports, a move designed to hurt Iran's economy.