China Says Opposes Any Unilateral Sanctions against North Korea
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – China opposes any unilateral sanctions on North Korea, the Foreign Ministry said, after the United States imposed sweeping new curbs on the isolated country in retaliation for its nuclear and rocket tests.
Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks at a regular briefing on Thursday.
The US measures, which vastly expanded the US blockade over Pyongyang, prohibit exportation of goods from the US to North Korea, Reuters reported.
US officials had previously believed a blanket trade ban would be ineffective without a stronger commitment from China, North Korea's largest trading partner.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Jan. 6, and a Feb. 7 rocket launch that the United States and its allies said employed banned ballistic missile technology.
China signed on to new UN sanctions against North Korea earlier this month.
Pyongyang shocked the world in January and earned a global rebuke when it announced it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.
Later in February, it defiantly launched a satellite-bearing rocket, a move the West sees as a cover for a ballistic missile test in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Under the bill, penalties for the sanctionable activities include the seizure of assets, visa bans and denial of government contracts.
And for the first time, it establishes a framework for sanctions in response to North Korean cyber threats, according to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker.