Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hosted a regular press conference on September 21.

　　A reporter asked: According to a report by the Syrian State News Agency on the 20th, the illegal U.S. troops stationed in Hasakah province in northeastern Syria used 60 oil tankers to transport the stolen Syrian oil to northern Iraq again through Hasakah province.

Does the spokesperson have any comment on this?

　　Wang Wenbin: I have noticed relevant reports.

It is not the first time that the US military has stolen oil in Syria, and it is becoming more and more rampant.

The statement of the Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources pointed out that the average daily oil production in Syria in the first half of 2022 was about 80,300 barrels, of which 82%, or about 66,000 barrels of oil per day, was plundered by "the US military and its supported armed forces".

According to reports, since August, there have been at least 10 incidents of the U.S. military stealing oil from Syria, and a total of about 800 oil tankers have been used to transport them to U.S. military bases outside Syria.

At the same time, Syrians waiting to refuel were lined up at gas stations for hours.

Syrian officials said that as of the first half of 2022, U.S. military exploitation, smuggling and illegal trading of Syrian oil, gas and mineral resources had caused direct losses to Syria of $18.2 billion.

The number of civilians in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria has exceeded 14 million, and the actions of the US military have greatly exacerbated the humanitarian disaster in Syria.

　　Like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other countries, Syria is also a victim of what the US calls a "rules-based order."

In America's "rules-based order," the human rights and lives of the Syrian people are being taken away, not upheld.

We urge the US to respect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, respond to the voice of the Syrian people, immediately lift unilateral sanctions on Syria, immediately stop plundering Syria's national resources, pursue legal responsibility for the US military's robbery, compensate the Syrian people for their losses, and make up for it with concrete actions damage to the Syrian people.

(Making Yueziyan)

Responsible editor: [Li Ji]