The U.S. State Department on Tuesday (Dec. 1) accused China of “flagrant violation” of its obligation to impose international sanctions on North Korea and said it would offer a reward of up to $5 million for information on sanctions evasion.
The State Department has launched a new website called DPRKrewards.com, where Alex Wong, deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said people from around the world can submit information and receive up to $5 million in return.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., Alex Wong accused China of helping North Korea obtain funds to continue its military buildup, noting that the U.S. has observed 555 incidents of ships carrying coal and other banned goods from North Korea to China in the past year.
“In these cases, the Chinese authorities did not take action to stop these illegal imports,” said Michael Hwang, “not once. (Not once).”
He said the Chinese government is increasingly allowing Chinese companies to trade with North Korea on a range of embargoed goods, including seafood, textiles, steel, industrial machinery, vehicles, sand and gravel.
He also accused China of violating the U.N. ban by hosting at least 20,000 North Korean workers, whose earnings are used directly for North Korea’s weapons research and development work.
Hwang also said, “North Korea still maintains secret channels for sourcing raw materials for its weapons programs. Without intermediaries, North Korea cannot do this. The DPRK cannot do this without illegal bank accounts. North Korea cannot do this without money laundering networks. And the vast majority of the middlemen, bank accounts and money launderers are operating in China.”
He said, “In no other country do we see the continued breadth and depth of illicit business activity with North Korea on a scale that puts China in blatant violation of its obligations.”
Huang also said that China they are seeking to have U.N. sanctions lifted and “they are seeking to restore trade ties and revenue transfers with North Korea, thereby ensuring Chinese access to the North Korean economy.”
North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 for conducting nuclear tests. Hwang said the U.S. will continue to impose sanctions on any individual or entity that evades them, including those under Chinese jurisdiction, and “we’ve imposed many of these sanctions in the past. We have imposed many of these sanctions in the past. More are coming.”
Just a day earlier, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against China Electronics Import-Export Co. for its support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to undermine democracy.
Recent Comments