Why China is secretly cutting Iranian oil imports despite public defiance.

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Iranian crude imports into China fell from 1.71 million barrels per day in March to 1.16 million in April, about a 32% drop.

[00:00:11]That's the contradiction. China's defying American public for sanctioning Chinese teapot refineries, but the oil flows from Iran to China show pressure in private.

[00:00:22]And that tells you something important about power.

[00:00:25]Great powers do not always retreat with speeches. Sometimes they retreat with spreadsheets.

[00:00:32]Sometimes they say we will not comply, but companies still quietly slow purchases.