China opposes sanctions against Pyongyang proposed by Russia. “Imposing blindly cannot solve the problem,” explains the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
China said on Friday it was opposed to “blindly” sanctioning North Korea, after abstaining from a UN Security Council vote in which Russia vetoed the committee’s renewal. monitoring sanctions against Pyongyang. “The current situation on the Korean Peninsula remains tense and blindly imposing sanctions cannot resolve the problem,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “A political solution is the only path” possible, he said, in response to a question about why Beijing abstained from voting.
“We hope that the UN Security Council and all parties concerned can make constructive efforts to achieve this goal,” he added. Moscow’s veto in the Security Council does not remove sanctions against Pyongyang. However, it marks the end of the committee which monitors their implementation as well as a myriad of alleged violations. The mandate of this group ends at the end of April.
Tougher penalties
North Korea has been under increasingly severe sanctions since 2006, put in place by the UN Security Council in response to the development of Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Since 2019, Russia and China have been trying to persuade Council members to ease these sanctions, which have no expiration date. Beijing is Pyongyang’s main economic supporter and a long-time ally.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is also seeking to strengthen his ties with China while toughening his tone towards his southern neighbor. Mr. Kim said in January that Pyongyang and Beijing had chosen 2024 as “the year of DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) – China friendship”, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name.
This article is originally published on lessentiel.lu
