China denies selling oil to North Korea at sea

China has insisted that reports that its ships sold oil to North Korea are false and that Beijing has not violated United Nations resolutions.

» Mr. Trump regrets that China supplies oil to North Korea

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. Photo: CGTN.

China has always fully implemented UN resolutions and never allowed Chinese companies to violate them. If there are actual violations, China will handle them according to the law, Reuters quoted Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, as saying today.

Ms. Hoa denied the information that Chinese ships sold oil to North Korean ships, violating the UN sanctions passed on December 22, as put forth by South Korea.

US President Donald Trump said on December 28 that he was "very disappointed that China is still allowing oil to flow into North Korea." He "has been soft" on China on trade issues, hoping that Beijing will pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.

"The oil is still going into North Korea. That's not my deal," he said. "If they don't help with North Korea, I'll do what I've always wanted to do."

South Korea said today that it detained and briefly inspected the Hong Kong-registered Lighthouse Winmore on November 24 when it docked at the port of Yeosu, South Korea. The Lighthouse Winmore is suspected of transferring 600 tons of oil to the North Korean ship Sam Jong 2 in international waters on October 19. South Korea has shared intelligence on the incident with the United States.

The Sam Jong 2 is one of four North Korean ships banned from international ports by the Security Council today on suspicion of transporting goods banned under sanctions against Pyongyang. South Korea will hold the Lighthouse Winmore for six months. Hong Kong is expected to file a petition for the ship's release with the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee.

The Security Council has adopted three sanctions resolutions against North Korea this year: on August 5, targeting North Korea’s iron, coal, and fisheries industries; on September 11, targeting its textile industry and limiting oil supplies; and most recently on December 22, focusing on refined petroleum products. The August resolution prohibits suspicious vessels from docking, except for humanitarian purposes as determined by the Security Council.

According to VNE