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Agence France-Presse

The United States has slapped new sanctions on Chinese and North Korean firms and individuals that it said support the Pyongyang regime of Kim Jong-un and his nuclear weapons programme.
The move comes as the US seeks to choke the flow of goods and materials crucial to North Korea’s economy such as oil, electronics and metals, and pressure Kim to halt the development of nuclear weapons that threaten the region and potentially the US mainland.
Following UN sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said: “The US government is targeting illicit actors in China, Russia, and elsewhere who are working on behalf of North Korean financial networks, and calling for their expulsion from the territories where they reside. 
“We are sanctioning additional oil, shipping, and trading companies that continue to provide a lifeline to North Korea to fuel this regime’s nuclear ambitions and destabilising activities.”
What will China say to US ‘blunt’ call to expel North Koreans?
Two Chinese trading firms are among the sanctioned organisations, as are representatives of North Korean companies and banks mostly based in China and Russia; and North Korean shipping companies and six specific vessels.
“Treasury continues to systematically target individuals and entities financing the Kim regime and its weapons programmes, including officials complicit in North Korean sanctions evasion schemes,” Mnuchin said.
The sanctions seek to lock those named out of the global economy by banning US individuals and companies – including foreign banks and trading firms with US entities – from doing business with them.

Ten of the individuals listed for sanctions were representatives of Korea Ryonbong General Corporation, a UN-designated company that makes acquisitions and supports sales for the North Korea defence industry.
Most were based in Chinese cities on the border with North Korea, and nearby Russian cities, where they helped arrange shipping of materials and goods to North Korea.
Kim Jong-un, lacking good information, pushes closer to attack on US says CIA
One Ryonbong representative was based in Abkhazia, Georgia, where – according to the US Treasury -he arranged to deploy North Korean workers, which Pyongyang uses to obtain foreign currency.
Five others worked for North Korean banks in the northern Chinese cities of Dalian and Shenyang, and in Vladivostok, Russia.
Two Chinese businesses, Beijing Chengxing Trading Co. and Dandong Jinxiang Trade Co., were placed on the sanctions blacklist sales of everything from high purity metals to used computers to North Korean businesses already named for sanctions.


Five North Korean shipping companies and six vessels were also blacklisted, as the US targets efforts by Pyongyang to obtain needed materials like oil and coal via ship to ship transfers from foreign vessels on the high seas.
The sanctions also included the North Korean Ministry of Crude Oil Industry, which could affect any foreign oil supplier doing business with the ministry.
The new sanctions represent Washington’s frustrations that both China and Russia continue to enable or turn a blind eye to their own companies and shippers still doing business with North Korea.
That serves to erode the impact of sanctions designed to slow Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missiles programme, and press Kim into negotiations.
Earlier on Wednesday a senior US Treasury official warned Hong Kong authorities they must stop the city being used as a “safe harbour” for illicit trade with North Korea, in violation of United Nations sanctions.


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North Korea

US slaps China with sanctions amid North Korea nuclear crackdown

A North Korean who defected to the South tears a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during a press conference against the North's attendance at the Pyeongchang Olympics, at the National Assembly in Seoul on January 24, 2018. South Korea's efforts to bring the North to its Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month are provoking a backlash among its own people, with accusations that Seoul risks turning the Games into a "Pyongyang Olympics". / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (center) arrives for a press briefing on day two of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Mnuchin has ordered sanctions on Chinese and North Korean businesses in China and Russia, saying they are aiding the rogue state. Photo: Bloomberg/Jason Alden.

What will China say to US ‘blunt’ call to expel North Koreans?

The US wants China to expel a number of North Koreans it says are helping Pyongyang fund its nuclear weapons programme. Photo: AP