After the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions last week on a unit of Hengli Petrochemical, which it said had purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum, China’s foreign ministry said unilateral US sanctions “have no basis in international law” and that it would seek to defend the targeted companies. After the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions last week on a unit of Hengli Petrochemical, which it said had purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum, China’s foreign ministry said unilateral US sanctions “have no basis in international law” and that it would seek to defend the targeted companies. After the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions last week on a unit of Hengli Petrochemical, which it said had purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum, China’s foreign ministry said unilateral US sanctions “have no basis in international law” and that it would seek to defend the targeted companies.