By Rachel Lee
A package of sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration against North Korea, Friday, could be interpreted as a “warning” to Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their first talks next week, officials here said Sunday.
“The sanctions are to call on China to restrain its closest ally’s nuclear and missile programs,” a government source said, asking not to be named. “They will certainly make China feel more pressured ahead of the planned summit. That could be a warning from Trump.”
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned 11 North Koreans and one North Korean trading firm believed to be involved in the country’s weapon programs, March 31. This was the first punitive measure set by the Trump government since it was launched in January.
The measures came amid growing signs that Pyongyang is preparing for a new nuclear test, one of the anticipated issues on the agenda for the first face-to-face talks between Trump and Xi, scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
“With North Korea expected to be high on the agenda, Trump may urge China to use its leverage on the North to stop its provocations. The latest sanctions showed how the Trump administration will handle North Korea and by extension China,” another official said.
The blacklisted company is Paeksol Trading Corporation, which the Treasury said has traded North Korean coal and minerals. Despite Washington’s efforts to seek cooperation from Beijing to halt its imports of North Korean coal, the company continues to export through “front companies” in Dalian, the southernmost city of Northeast China the Treasury said.
The 11 individuals work as the North’s government representatives in Russia, China, Vietnam and Cuba linked to banks, the defense industry and arms sales, it said.
“Today’s sanctions are aimed at disrupting the networks and methods that the Government of North Korea employs to fund its unlawful nuclear, ballistic missile, and proliferation programs,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
“These sanctions underscore this administration’s commitment to countering the threat to the United States, to our allies, and to stability on the Korean peninsula and in the wider Asia-Pacific region posed by the Kim regime in Pyongyang.
“I urge our partners and allies to take similar measures to cut off its funding.”
The South Korean foreign ministry said Washington’s new measures were a “stern warning message” to North Korea, which the U.S. said will face a tougher set of punitive measures unless it gives up its nuclear weapons and missile development.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared during his visit to Seoul last month an end to the Barack Obama administration’s policy of strategic patience in dealing with North Korea and vowed to explore all options including harsher sanctions and military action. The U.S. top diplomat also stressed the importance of China’s role in forcing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, urging Beijing to stop taking retaliatory actions against South Korea over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.