U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized China over the country's reported oil sales to North Korea, saying they have been caught "red handed" and such moves would prevent "a friendly solution" to the North Korean nuclear issue.

Trump tweeted on Thursday while on a holiday break in Florida "Caught RED HANDED - very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea." 

He added that there will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen.

The U.S. Treasury Department put 20 North Korean ships on its sanctions list on November 21st, releasing satellite photos of the blacklisted North Korean ship "Rye Song Gang 1" trading petroleum products with a vessel from another country. 
  
Recently, U.S. spy satellites reportedly captured photos of Chinese ships illegally selling oil to North Korean boats some 30 times since October.

A U.S. State Department official said that these "ship-to-ship" transfers of oil products could still be going on, adding they remain a concern as part of North Korea’s sanctions evasions activities.

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