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WASHINGTON: The United States accused China on Tuesday (Dec. 1) of “flagrant violation” of its obligation to enforce international sanctions against North Korea and offered rewards of up to $ 5 million for information on sanctions evasions.
Speaking to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Deputy Under Secretary for North Korea Alex Wong accused China of trying to undo a UN sanctions regime aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. .
Wong said China had continued to host at least 20,000 North Korean workers in violation of UN bans, and that last year the United States had observed ships carrying banned coal or other sanctioned goods from North Korea to China on 555 separate occasions. .
“On none of these occasions did the Chinese authorities act to stop these illicit imports,” Wong said. “Not even once.”
He said China currently hosts at least two dozen North Korean representatives connected to Pyongyang’s bank or weapons programs, and Chinese companies have continued to do business with UN-sanctioned entities with key roles in those programs.
Wong said China “increasingly allows” its companies to trade with North Korea in a broad spectrum of products banned by the UN, including seafood, textiles, iron and steel, industrial machinery, vehicles, sand and gravel.
LEE: China gave the COVID-19 candidate vaccine to Kim from North Korea: US analyst.
“In no other country do we see this breadth and depth of continued illicit trade with North Korea, the scale of which puts China in flagrant violation of its obligations,” he said.
“They are looking to reactivate trade links and income transfers to the North, thus ensuring that the Chinese reach the North economy.”
China says it complies with UN sanctions against North Korea, although it also, along with Russia, expressed hope that easing those conditions could help break the deadlock in the nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
Wong said the State Department was launching a website through which people could provide information about North Korea’s sanction evasion in exchange for up to $ 5 million.
The United States has also accused China of helping North Korea launder money from cyber thefts carried out to raise funds for its weapons programs.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump held two unprecedented summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade him to abandon his nuclear weapons.
In October, North Korea unveiled one of the world’s largest mobile road ICBMs. Experts said it would be able to reach anywhere in the United States if it becomes operational.
