China ready to pay the price to punish North Korea

China said it was deeply affected by new UN sanctions on North Korea but pledged to enforce the resolution.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Photo: Reuters.

Speaking at a regional security forum in Manila, Philippines, on August 7, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the new UN sanctions on North Korea showed Beijing's opposition, as well as the international community's, to Pyongyang's missile tests, Reuters quoted a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry released today.

"Due to the economic ties between China and North Korea, China will be the one to pay the price when implementing the resolution," Wang said. "But in order to protect the nuclear non-proliferation system and regional peace and stability, China will fully and accurately implement the entire content of the relevant resolution."

China has repeatedly pledged to implement increasingly tough UN resolutions on North Korea but wants the limits of "normal" trade and the North Korean people to remain unaffected.

The United Nations Security Council on August 5 approved a US-drafted sanctions resolution against North Korea that could slash by a third the country's $3 billion annual export revenue.

The sanctions ban North Korea’s exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood, ban countries from accepting more North Korean laborers, establishing new joint ventures with North Korea and prohibiting new investment by existing joint ventures. The sanctions are a response to North Korea’s two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.

According to VNE