China has announced that it will limit energy supplies to North Korea and stop buying its textiles under UN sanctions imposed over its nuclear and missile development, further reducing support from Pyongyang’s last ally.
Exports of refined petroleum to the North will be limited to two million barrels per year, effective January 1, the Commerce Ministry said. Sales of liquefied natural gas are banned outright.
READ MORE: Earthquake detected near North Korea nuclear test zone ‘occurred naturally’
North Korea depends on China for almost all its oil and gas but estimates of its consumption are low, leaving it unclear how Beijing’s new limit will affect them. The restrictions announced on Saturday do not apply to crude oil, which makes up the biggest share of energy exports to the North.
China will restrict oil exports to DPRK and suspend textile imports from DPRK: Ministry of Commerce https://t.co/SuRdZHzsAY pic.twitter.com/fLgcpXcBjs
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) September 23, 2017
China also will ban textile imports from the North, the ministry said. Textiles are believed to be the North’s biggest source of foreign revenue following rounds of UN sanctions under which Beijing cut off purchases of coal, iron ore, seafood and other goods.
China accounts for some 90% of the North’s trade, making its cooperation critical to efforts to derail Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development.
READ MORE: Madman versus gangster: Trump and Kim ramp up war of words
Chinese leaders were long the North’s diplomatic protectors but express increasing frustration with the government of Kim Jong Un. They support the latest UN Security Council sanctions but are reluctant to push Pyongyang too hard for fear Kim’s government might collapse. They also argue against doing anything that might hurt ordinary North Koreans.
(Ahn Young-joon/AP/PA)
Chinese officials complain their country bears the cost of enforcing sanctions, which have hurt businesses in its north-east that trade with the North.
Earlier US president Donald Trump lashed out at Kim during a rally speech in Alabama.
Mr Trump said: “We can’t have madmen out there shooting rockets all over the place”, adding: “Rocket Man should have been handled a long time ago”.
Both leaders have been trading barbs.
Kim earlier this week called Mr Trump “deranged” and said he would “pay dearly” for his threats.
Mr Trump delivered a combative speech on Tuesday at the UN General Assembly, where he mocked Kim as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission”. Mr Trump also told the UN that if “forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea”.
The UN Security Council voted on September 11 to limit fuel supplies and ban the North’s textile exports. China, one of five permanent council members with power to veto UN action, agreed to the measure after the United States toned down a proposal for a complete oil embargo.
President Trump today issued a new Executive Order imposing additional sanctions with respect to North Korea: https://t.co/56P71Ek5iG
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 21, 2017
Petroleum exports for use in the North’s ballistic missile programme or other activities banned by UN sanctions also are prohibited, the Commerce Ministry said.
The US government’s Energy Information Agency estimates the North’s 2016 daily imports from China at 15,000 barrels of crude oil and 6,000 barrels of refined products. That would be the equivalent of almost 5.5 million barrels of crude and 2.2 million barrels of refined products for the full year.
READ MORE: Earthquake detected near North Korea nuclear test zone ‘occurred naturally’
North Korea has abundant coal but depends almost entirely on imports for oil and gas.
North Korean textile exports in 2016 totalled 750 million dollars (£555 million), according to South Korea’s Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. It said nearly 80% went to China.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here