Ambassador Nikki Haley has made “groundless and irresponsible accusations” about North Korea and China’s enforcement of sanctions on the pariah regime, according to a senior Chinese diplomat.
“Groundless and irresponsible accusations will not help resolve the Peninsula nuclear issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during Wednesday’s briefing. “We hope the U.S. could respect facts.”
U.S. and Chinese officials have been at loggerheads over how to confront North Korea for decades, and President Trump this year tried to escalate the use of sanctions to coerce dictator Kim Jong Un. China provided some support to that effort in 2017, but has weakened sanctions enforcement in recent months while insisting that the U.S. do more to appeal to the Kim regime.
That tension has drawn a series of rebukes from Haley, the top U.S. diplomat at the United Nations.
“Russia and China continue to cause problems,” Haley said at a U.N. press briefing. “It flies in the face of the international community for Russia and China to not follow the same rules as everyone else. And we have to make sure that they know they are not exempt on their relationship with North Korea compared to every other country. We’re all in this together. They can’t now decide to jump ship.”
Haley noted China’s blockade of a U.S. assessment that North Korea has imported more oil than permitted by an annual cap mandated by the U.N. Security Council. Much of that oil is being purchased from Russia and China. Her comments were buttressed within hours by a new report on other Chinese defiance of North Korean sanctions.
“China has reopened the door to both legal and illegal trade with the North, throwing the North Korean government a vital lifeline while derailing U.S. diplomacy,” NBC reported, citing former officials and independent analysts. “The increase in trade can be traced back to March, when the White House stunned Beijing by announcing plans for Trump to hold an unprecedented meeting with the North Korean dictator. Fearing a loss of influence with its often recalcitrant ally, China invited Kim to three successive summits in China, in March, May, and June.”
Hua responded to Haley with an implicit criticism of the report. “We believe [the report] should objectively, comprehensively and accurately reflect the work undertaken by all countries to implement the Security Council resolutions,” she said. “Its release should comply with the stipulations of the Security Council resolutions and the procedures of the Sanctions Committee.”
The official also denied any loosening of international sanctions. “China has fully and strictly implemented relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and fulfilled its international obligations,” Hua said.
