China will deal ‘seriously’ with North Korea sanctions breaches

A Japanese surveillance plane and escort ship saw a North Korean-flagged tanker alongside a smaller ship on February 16 about 250 kilometers off Shanghai in the East China Sea.

China will “seriously” deal with any breaches of UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea should they be found, a Chinese official said, soon after the third report this month of a ship-to-ship transfer suspected of violating sanctions.

File photo of flags of China and North Korea are seen outside the closed Ryugyong Korean Restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China on April 12, 2016. (Reuters)

Foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Saturday that Beijing still “firmly opposes the US imposing unilateral sanctions and ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ on Chinese entities or individuals.”

China had said Thursday it was “highly concerned” about and was investigating the ship-to-ship transfer Japan reported this past week. A Japanese surveillance plane and escort ship saw a North Korean-flagged tanker alongside a smaller ship on Feb. 16 about 250 kilometers (150 miles) off Shanghai in the East China Sea. Photos appeared to show hoses running between the ships. Japan did not identify the nationality of the second ship.

File photo released by Japan's Ministry of Defense shows what it says North Korean-flagged tanker Yu Jong 2, left, and Min Ning De You 078 lying alongside in the East China Sea. (AP Photo)

China has agreed to impose increasingly tough sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, and Geng has said Beijing recently issued a statement explicitly banning ship-to-ship transfers.

Though China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner and a traditional friend, ties have soured over the North’s nuclear and missile tests and its refusal to return to Chinese-hosted denuclearization talks.