Satellite pics ‘show China secretly transferring oil to Kim Jong-un’s ships despite strict UN sanctions’

US spy satellites appear to have captured photos of Chinese ships illegally selling oil to North Korea  30 times since October.

Images taken from space reportedly show Chinese tankers transferring oil to North Korean merchant ships despite strict UN trade embargoes.

Vessels from the two countries can be seen shackled together for a fuel transfer in the West Sea off China.

But doing this is banned under a UN Security Council resolution adopted last week in response to Kim Jong Un’s nuclear missile program.

North Korea was barred from importing natural gas and had its crude oil imports capped.

One picture, reportedly taken on October 19, shows a tanker called Ryesonggang connected to a Chinese vessel, reports.

While Russia exports some oil to North Korea, China is the main source of oil for the rogue nation.

The US Treasury Department later placed six North Korean shipping and trading companies and 20 of their vessels on sanctions list.

But China today denied any of its merchant ships were involved in sanction-breaking oil sales.

Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said: "The situation you have mentioned absolutely does not exist."

It said the activity appeared to show attempts to bypass sanctions, though it has not been suggested that Chinese authorities were aware of the transactions.

The illegal exporting of oil via ship transfers has happened at least 30 times in the past three months.

Cai Jian, an expert on North Korea at Fudan University in Shanghai, said: 'This is a natural outcome of the tightening of the various sanctions against North Korea.

The tightening 'reflects China's stance', he said.  

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