The Chinese aren't paying $70/bbl for oil
Do you believe that they are not paying $70/bbl, they are not buying the reported quantities, or both?
In either case, what's your source?
& we're being lied to
By whom, and how... the world oil market is pretty transparent at both the production and distribution levels.
The U.S. can't afford $70/bbl oil - how can backwater China ?
China has "investments" in many countries which maybe bartered for oil &/or it's entirely possible that China purchased futures a while back.