What they're not telling you: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters Tuesday that Beijing’s panic hoarding of crude and refined products, while refusing to join the rest of the world in releasing supplies to offset the Gulf global-order-crumbling-into-disarray-as-trump-turns-up-pressure-campaign.html" title="Xi Says "Global Order Crumbling Into Disarray" As Trump Turns Up Pressure Campaign On China" style="color:#1a1a1a;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-style:dotted;font-weight:500;">energy shock, has now demonstrated for the third time in five years that China is an "unreliable global partner." " China has been an unreliable global partner three times in the past five years; once during COVID, when they hoarded healthcare products, second on rare earth ," Bessent said, referring to Beijing's move last year to weaponize rare earth exports against the US in the tit-for-tat trade war that disrupted US supply chains, including temporary factory shutdowns such as production lines briefly shuttered by Ford Motor Company. Bessent said China continued to purchase tanker loads of crude instead of helping ease the global supply crunch caused by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, despite already holding a massive strategic reserve. He also noted that China restricted exports of crude products early in the conflict.
Bessent's running tally of Chinese "unreliability" is a masterclass in political theater disguised as fiscal discipline. He's counting instances—three so far—like a scoreboard, when what we're actually watching is Treasury justifying a predetermined protectionist agenda wrapped in the language of betrayed partnership. Here's what's missing from his accounting: the structural dependence American capital built into China over three decades. We outsourced manufacturing, financialized supply chains, and profited enormously. Now Bessent itemizes grievances as if they emerged from nowhere, as if U.S. multinationals didn't spend years lobbying for China access while knowing full well how Beijing operates. This isn't watchdog analysis of corporate power—it's corporate power *using* government to reset the terms after the game stopped being profitable. Bessent's tally conveniently ignores which American firms lobbied hardest for Chinese market entry. It ignores the regulatory capture that got us here. The real story isn't Beijing's unreliability. It's Washington finally admitting the neoliberal trade architecture wasn't the permanent settlement Wall Street promised. Bessent's counting to three because someone has to account for why that bet failed. It won't be the bankers who made it.
What the Documents Show
Reuters noted that China's strategic petroleum reserve "was roughly the same size as that of the entire reserve held by the 32-member International Energy Agency, but it was continuing to purchase oil." Bessent added, "They continued buying, and they've been hoarding, and they have cut off exports of many products." On US-China relations, he told reporters he's been in contact with Chinese officials about the hoarding issue. He declined to comment on whether the dispute and elevated tensions will derail an upcoming Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing, which has been pushed to mid-May. "I think the message for the visit is stability. We've had great stability in the relationship since last summer; that emanates from the top down," he said. "I think that communication is the key." Bessent added that the US military blockade would ensure that no Chinese tankers or other ships would pass the strait: "So they're not going to be able to get their oil.
Follow the Money
Not Iranian oil." Last week, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned that governments must avoid panic hoarding and refrain from imposing fuel export bans as the Gulf energy shock continues to ripple outward to Asia, Africa, Europe, and eventually reaches the US West Coast. "I urge all countries not to impose bans or restrictions on exports," Fatih Birol emphasized in a Financial Times interview. "It is the worst time when you look at the global oil markets. Their trade partners, their allies and their neighbors will suffer as a result." The FT noted that Birol was "careful not to name China directly," but made very clear his warning was likely aimed at Beijing. So Bessent is clearly keeping a running tally of Beijing’s behavior as an "unreliable global partner," and by his count, the number now stands at three. What comes next is unclear, but the next signal will likely come from the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting.
What Else We Know
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