On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that “I’ve got legislation that will allow President Trump to put tariffs on China for buying Russian oil and gas, and I’ll do the same thing for Iran down the road.” And that if the summit between the U.S. and China ends and “they’re still doing the same damn thing with Iran and Russia and we don’t punish China, we’ve made a mistake.”
Graham said, “This is going to be judged by me, if China still buys 90% of Iranian oil, they still are the number one purchaser of Russian oil and gas when this summit is over, and we do nothing about it, we’ll have made a big mistake. … Xi could pick up the phone and end the Russia and Ukraine war. He could pick up the phone and end the Iran conflict if he chose to. Without China buying Iran oil, they would be out of business. The number one purchaser of Russian oil and gas, propping up Putin, is China.”
He added, “[I]f China continues to do this without paying a price for disrupting the world, then we’ll have made a huge mistake. I’ve got legislation that will allow President Trump to put tariffs on China for buying Russian oil and gas, and I’ll do the same thing for Iran down the road. The only thing China respects is strength. So, when this is over, if they’re still doing the same damn thing with Iran and Russia and we don’t punish China, we’ve made a mistake.”
Graham further said that if Xi “believed President Trump would crush his economy, the Chinese economy, for propping up Putin and Iran, I think he would change his behavior. You don’t need to threaten him directly, but you need to make it real to him.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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