Chinese companies keep exporting nuclear and missile items to N. Korea

The U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) has pointed out that Chinese companies and individuals continue to export items that could be used in nuclear and missile development to North Korea and Iran.

In a report titled “China’s Nuclear and Missile Proliferation,” published on Monday (local time), CRS said, “Although the Chinese government appears to have stopped direct intervention in the transfer of nuclear and missile-related items, Chinese companies and individuals continue to export these items, especially to North Korea and Iran.”

Citing a State Department announcement in 2019, the report said, “Chinese companies have continued to supply items that fall under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Pakistan. The U.S. has asked China to stop these trading activities after it has found them, but most of them have not been addressed.”

The CRS also wrote, "The U.S. is also concerned about the provision of support by Chinese companies for (nuclear, missile) proliferation activities such as illicit finance and money laundering.” “Chinese financial companies set up paper companies to act as agents for North Korean financial institutions, evading sanctions to finance the North’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs,” the report said. Previously, the Joe Biden administration sanctioned five Chinese companies that supported financial transactions on behalf of the Scientific and Educational Film Studio of Korea (SEK), which was subject to sanctions in December last year for financing North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and illegally sending workers abroad.

The report comes amidst growing voices calling for a tougher response to China's support of sanctions evasion by North Korea following Republicans’ winning control of the U.S. House.

Meanwhile, former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton wrote in an article for the Washington Post on Wednesday to urge Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who will visit China on the 5th and 6th of next month, to put stronger pressure on China, which is turning a blind eye to North Korea's nuclear development. Bolton said, “The US has long tolerated China neglecting its responsibility to contain North Korea’s security threats. This meeting will be a good opportunity to change that.”

“The United States has realized, albeit belatedly, that China was not against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions," he argued. "The assumption that China, just like the U.S., is concerned about the North Korean nuclear threat has ruined its nuclear policy. This is (China's) counter-intelligence operation."


weappon@donga.com