China Defends Buying Russian Oil After Trump’s Tariff Threat (1)

China said its imports of Russian oil are justified, pushing back against US threats of new tariffs after Washington slapped secondary levies on India for buying energy from Moscow.

“It is legitimate and lawful for China to conduct normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We will continue to adopt reasonable energy security measures in accordance with our national interests.”

Donald Trump said earlier this week he could punish China with additional tariffs over its purchases of Russian oil, saying “that ...