ISTANBUL

China on Wednesday said the US exhibited “bandit behavior” by what Beijing called “stealing” oil from Syria. 

According to the Chinese daily Global Times, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was responding to reports about Washington transferring “stolen oil” to northern Iraq from “occupied Syrian oilfields.”

“Bandit behavior!” Wang told a news conference in Beijing, referring to the alleged US oil activities.

Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus has often accused Washington of smuggling oil out of the war-torn nation.

“The US occupation forces have transported tanker trucks loaded with stolen oil and vehicles carrying military equipment from the al-Jazeera region (of Hasakah province) towards Iraqi territory,” the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported last weekend.

On allegations that Beijing was trying to prevent the outgoing UN human rights chief from releasing her report on Xinjiang, Wang said Michelle Bachelet “witnessed with her own eyes China’s developmental path and human rights achievements.”

“China firmly opposes the fabrication of lies to smear China,” he added.

Bachelet, whose term ends at the end of August, made a week-long trip to China in May – the first such visit by any top UN human rights official since 2005.

The northwestern province of Xinjiang is home to ethnic Uyghurs, mostly Muslims.

China has been accused of ethnic cleansing of Uyghurs in the autonomous region. Beijing has denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations “lies.”​​​​​​​