China may be be helping North Korea circumvent international oil sanctions designed to pressure the regime into dismantling its nuclear weapons program, Japanese officials suggested Tuesday.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry released photographs of a North Korean tanker and “a small vessel of unknown nationality flying a flag that seemed like [a] Chinese-flag,” connected by a pair of hoses. The images renew suspicions that Asia’s leading Communist power is undermining Western efforts to cripple North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
“Following a comprehensive assessment, the Government of Japan strongly suspects that they conducted ship-to-ship transfers banned by [United Nations Security Council Resolutions],” the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. “Japan notified the Security Council Committee of this incident and shared information with related countries. Japan also expressed its interest to China which could have relation to small vessel of unknown nationality.”
The images were taken by a spy plane at midnight on May 19, more than 200 miles off the coast of China in the East China Sea, according to the Japanese government. Their release comes at a fraught diplomatic moment. President Trump briefly canceled a much-anticipated summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un following a series of belligerent statements from the regime. A conciliatory reply from Kim presaged a flurry of activity between U.S. and North Korean officials to continue preparing for the summit.
“The United States continued to actively prepare for President Trump’s expected summit with leader Kim,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday. “That is what we’re planning for, but we’ll see what happens.”
China plays a leading role in the enforcement of international sanctions on North Korea because their relationship accounts for the vast majority of the pariah state’s economic activity. China’s apparent willingness to tighten enforcement of sanctions is a key part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign.
“Are you getting any hints that there’s any relaxation of those sanctions, more goods crossing between the border between China and North Korea,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week.
Pompeo offered a careful reassurance. “Senator, we haven’t seen anything to suggest they’ve violated the Security Council resolutions in a substantial way,” he replied. “I worry about everyone. The global pressure campaign that was put in place is important and needs to continue . . . that’s very important, so that we can ultimately get to the right place here.”
