After the U.S. State Department accused China of “flagrantly violating” its obligations to impose international sanctions on North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded at a regular press conference on Wednesday (Dec. 2).
The U.S. should do more to promote a political process on the peninsula, and called on the U.N. Security Council to start discussions on the reversible provisions of the resolution as soon as possible, and make necessary adjustments to the sanctions, especially in the area of people’s livelihood, to create conditions for a political solution on the peninsula.
China has always advocated a political solution to the DPRK nuclear issue and opposes economic sanctions in exchange for the cessation of nuclear tests. In recent years, China has repeatedly called at the UN for an easing of sanctions against the DPRK.
Observers point out that China is North Korea’s most important ally, trading partner, and source of aid. China has agreed to UN sanctions against North Korea because North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests, in defiance of Beijing, threaten the stability of Northeast Asia and could even lead to war with the United States.
In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for North Korean Affairs Alex Wong of the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs accused China of helping North Korea obtain funds to continue its military buildup. He noted that since 2019, U.S. vessels have provided information to Beijing on 46 occasions about North Korea’s fuel smuggling in Chinese waters, and in the past year observed 555 cases of North Korea exporting coal or other banned exports to China.
In none of these cases did Chinese authorities take action to stop these illegal imports,” said Michael Hwang, “Not once. Not once.”
Under a UN Security Council sanctions resolution unanimously passed against North Korea in August 2017, North Korea’s $3 billion in annual exports were reduced by one-third, including through an embargo.
Hwang accuses China of violating the UN ban by hosting at least 20,000 North Korean workers, whose earnings go directly to North Korea’s weapons development work. Under the UN sanctions resolution, member states are required to repatriate North Korean workers from their countries by December 2019.
Between 2006 and the end of 2017, the DPRK conducted six nuclear explosive tests and 20 ballistic missile launches, according to UN records. In 2017, in particular, the DPRK advanced its nuclear and ballistic missile programs at an alarming rate, not only launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but also conducting its sixth nuclear explosion test, which triggered a magnitude 6.1 earthquake.
In response to the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program and the threat it poses to international peace and security, the UN Security Council has adopted more than a dozen resolutions imposing sanctions on the DPRK. Although the sanctions have severely impacted the DPRK’s economy, they have also created more hardship for people outside of major cities. However, according to Michael Hwang, the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not taken “any concrete steps toward denuclearization” and instead displayed a large long-range missile at a military parade in October of this year. Mr. Hwang expressed shock at this.
The U.S. State Department has launched a new website called DPRKrewards.com, and Michael Hwang, deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that people from around the world can use the site to provide information and receive up to $5 million in return.
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