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Laura Zhou

Catherine Wong

China has given its strongest sign yet that it will support tougher sanctions on North Korea, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying on Thursday that the United Nations Security Council had to take steps to rein in Pyongyang.
Wang did not specify what measures China would take or whether China would agree to cut oil supplies to its neighbour.
But he did say that “given the new development on the Korean peninsula, China agrees that the UN Security Council should make a further response by taking necessary measures”.
Wang said China resolutely opposed North Korea’s nuclear test on Sunday, and Pyongyang should “have a clear understanding of the situation”, make a “correct choice” and stop its provocations.




He said sanctions were only half of the solution – the other half was dialogue and negotiations.
Diplomatic observers said Beijing might impose a partial ban on oil supplies to Pyongyang and restrict trade to further limit North Korea’s sources of foreign income.
Wang’s comments came after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke on the phone on Wednesday night. In the call, Xi condemned Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test but said talks and peaceful means were the way to solve the crisis.
North Korea celebrates nuclear test with fireworks and massive rally
State-run Xinhua said the two leaders also discussed economic and security ties, a sign that Beijing does not want North Korea to dominate Sino-US relations.
After the phone call, Trump said a military option was not the US’ first choice in resolving the issue. But Xi agreed that they “will not be putting up with what’s happening in North Korea”, the US president said.

“President Xi would like to do something. We’ll see whether or not he can do it,” he said.
“I believe that President Xi agrees with me 100 per cent. He doesn’t want to see what’s happening there, either.”
The United States and its allies are pushing for a global oil embargo on North Korea, which gets most of its fuel from China, as well as some from Russia and Iran.
In a call to British Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump said North Korea was a “threat to global peace”.
Chinese border city calm amid global jitters over North Korea
A spokesman for May said: “The prime minister and the president agreed on the key role which China has to play, and that it was important they used all the leverage they had to ensure North Korea stopped conducting these illegal acts so that we could ensure the security and safety of nations in the region.”
Russia, which has veto power on the Security Council, has said it opposes cutting off its oil shipments, which amount to less than 40,000 tonnes a year.




Chinese analysts said it was unlikely that Beijing would support a full oil embargo but a partial cut in supplies could be one option to keep its neighbour in check without bringing down the Kim Jong-un regime.
China detects rising radiation levels in areas close to North Korean nuclear blast site
Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international studies at Renmin University, said Beijing would probably support tougher UN sanctions to stop further North Korean provocations.
“The phone conversation between Trump and Xi indicated that the two nations would still cooperate,” Cheng said. “It’s possible the UN Security Council will adopt sanctions on oil supplies.
“The UN can’t just pass a restrained resolution.”

Zhao Tong, a North Korean affairs expert at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre, said Beijing could tighten restrictions on North Korea’s sources of foreign currency with bans on textile exports and all North Korean labourers working abroad.
North Korea exported US$147.5 million of garments to China in the second quarter, Chinese customs data showed.
Xi and Trump condemn North Korea’s latest nuclear test and vow a coordinated strategy to end threat
But it would be too risky for China to cut off all oil supplies to its neighbour because it could lead to a collapse of North Korea’s economy and even the whole regime, Zhao said.
“I think it would be very hard for China to make a decision to fully cut off [oil supplies],” he said.
“But China could take relatively mild measures on oil.”
In a resolution passed unanimously on August 5, the UN Security Council banned imports of North Korean coal, lead, iron and iron ore and seafood. It also banned signatories from hiring and paying more North Korean labourers.
But Pyongyang detonated a hydrogen bomb on September 3, two days before the final deadline for the sanctions, crossing what is believed to be a red line for Beijing.


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North Korea sanctions

China hints at tougher UN sanctions on North Korea

In a phone call to US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night, President Xi Jinping condemned Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test but said talks and peaceful means were the way to solve the crisis. Photo: AP

This September 6, 2017 picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 7, 2017 shows fireworks displaying while Pyongyang residents and military people holding a celebration rally on the test of a hydrogen bomb for ICBM at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIS KNS / STR / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. /

FILE - This undated file photo distributed on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, by the North Korean government, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an undisclosed location in North Korea. If the U.S. attacks North Korea, the world could see another nuclear war. Yet negotiations won’t work - leader Kim won’t live up to his promises even if he were to make any. And China - if only it would help more! Those are the sentiments that have produced a collective shrug from many as they watch the North make rapid strides toward developing nuclear missiles capable of striking anywhere in the United States. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

Oil supplies to North Korea could be cut as China’s frustration with ally’s failure to communicate grows

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting to discuss Sunday’s nuclear test. Photo: AFP

(110605) -- KARAMAY, June 5, 2011 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on June 3, 2011 shows a worker operating on an oil pumping machine at a crude oil production site in PetroChina's Xinjiang Oilfield Company in Karamay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Hong-003 oil production block here is able to daily yield 860 metric tons (tonnes) of heavy crude oil thanks to the mature exploration technology. The heavy crude oil, which is denser and dose not flow easily, is relatively hard to extract. China is proven to have geological reserves of one billion tonnes heavy oil, including the integrated reserve of 40 million tonnes in the Hong-003 block. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) (lfj)

epa06182556 A handout photo made available by the South Korea Defense Ministry shows a Hyunmoo-2 missile being launched at an undisclosed location on the east coast of South Korea, 04 September 2017, as the South Korean military conducts a combined live-fire exercise in response to North Korea's sixth nuclear test a day earlier. The training involved the country's Hyunmoo ballistic missile and F-15K fighter jets. EPA/SOUTH KOREA DEFENSE MINISTRY / H EPA-EFE/SOUTH KOREA DEFENSE MINISTRY / H HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Moon presses Putin over North Korea oil supplies but Russian leader is reluctant

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: EPA

South Korean soldiers travel in an armored vehicle along a road near the border in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. North Korean has been seen readying another launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that could come before it marks the anniversary of its founding on Sept. 9. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

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Beijing might support partial ban on oil supplies to neighbour in aftermath of nuclear test, analysts say


North Korea nuclear crisis

North Korea

China hints at tougher UN sanctions on North Korea

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing might support partial ban on oil supplies to neighbour in aftermath of nuclear test, analysts say

Beijing might support partial ban on oil supplies to neighbour in aftermath of nuclear test, analysts say