ISTANBUL

China on Friday voiced strong opposition to US sanctions after Washington seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela earlier this week and announced restrictions on six shipping companies and associated vessels, including one flagged in Hong Kong.

Beijing “opposes unilateral illicit sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council, and the abuse of sanctions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a news conference in Beijing.

On Thursday, the US Treasury Department said that it had imposed new sanctions on six companies and their vessels for operating in Venezuela’s oil sector. The announcement followed remarks by US President Donald Trump, who said Wednesday that his administration had seized a tanker off Venezuela as tensions with President Nicolas Maduro’s government continue.

The Treasury statement also said three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, and a Maduro-affiliated businessman were sanctioned.

US authorities say they have carried out 22 known strikes on alleged “narco-terrorist” seaborne vessels since early September in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, killing 87 people.