U.S. and China Agree on Proposal for Tougher North Korea Sanctions
By SOMINI SENGUPTA

UNITED NATIONS — The United States and China reached an agreement to impose tougher sanctions against North Korea, in what appeared to be a diplomatic shift by Beijing regarding its intransigent ally.

The proposed resolution is the product of intense negotiations between the two nations over the last seven weeks, since Pyongyang tested a nuclear weapon it claimed was a hydrogen bomb. It was circulated to members of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, and diplomats said it could come up for a vote in the coming days.

Diplomats said the fact that Washington and Beijing had agreed on a set of measures increased the international pressure on the North Koreans. In the past, after previous nuclear tests condemned by the Security Council, China agreed only to banning weapons transfers and limited sanctions against those linked to the nuclear program.

Whether the proposed new sanctions will succeed in curtailing Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions remains to be seen. Past efforts to halt its nuclear program have not been fully carried out, nor have they prevented North Korea from pursuing a nuclear arsenal. Whether China would follow through on tougher sanctions was also a key question.

United States officials declined, without explanation, to provide the text of the resolution.

The proposed measures, according to a United States official, would ban the trade of conventional weapons, luxury goods like jet skis and Rolex watches, and aviation fuel to North Korea, which could effectively ground its national airline. It would also place prohibitions on dozens of new companies and individuals accused of trafficking in illicit nuclear material.

In what may be the toughest proposed measure, all North Korean cargo entering or leaving a country must be inspected by that country.

The mandatory cargo inspection applies to “anything going to and from the D.P.R.K.,” according to an American official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the talks. “If it is on your territory, in your ports or in your airports, there’s a requirement to inspect cargo to and from the D.P.R.K.,” the official said, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

In addition, 31 ships that have been known to traffic in illegal nuclear goods are to be banned from docking in any port. It is impossible to verify whether countries sending or receiving North Korean goods will carry out the inspections. However, they will be legally binding if the resolution is adopted.

Significant loopholes remain. North Korea would still be able to buy oil and sell its coal and iron ore, as long as it is not being used to fund its nuclear weapons program — which would be difficult to prove. China, North Korea’s main trading partner and diplomatic backer, is its main supplier of oil.

The draft resolution would also prohibit North Korea from exporting gold, titanium and rare earth minerals. It would ban countries from sending any item to North Korea that could be used by the North Korean armed forces, like trucks that could be rejiggered for military purposes.

Samantha Power, the United States ambassador, called the draft document “a major upgrade” to existing sanctions against North Korea, which are aimed mainly at those linked to the nuclear program. “These sanctions if adopted would send an unambiguous and unyielding message to the D.P.R.K. regime — the world will not accept your proliferation,” she said Thursday.

The Chinese envoy to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi, declined to comment on the specifics of the draft on Thursday but said he hoped the council would reach a consensus. “The resolution should pave the way for a negotiated solution down the road, not be a stonewall,” he said.

The new sanctions come as the United States is in talks with officials in Seoul about the possible deployment of an American missile-defense system in South Korea, a development Beijing strongly objects to. It also follows stepped-up United States sanctions against North Korea.

Kelsey Davenport, a North Korea expert at the Washington-based Arms Control Association, pointed out that even tough sanctions would not alone curtail Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions without what she called “sustained diplomacy.”

“China’s agreement to support additional U.N. sanctions sends a strong message to North Korea that it cannot count on Beijing to shield it from the costs of flouting international law,” she said. “However, China’s support for additional sanctions may not translate into the political will necessary in Beijing to enforce restrictions on the books. Without stringent enforcement, North Korea’s complex illicit trafficking networks will continue undeterred.”

Reuters quoted the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, as saying, “We hope and believe this new resolution can help effectively constrain North Korea from further developing its nuclear missile program.” The draft contains language that notes the “grave hardships” that North Korean citizens are subjected to, but says nothing about human rights abuses that have been painstakingly documented by a United Nations Commission of Inquiry.

John Sifton, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, described Pyongyang’s nuclear program as “inextricably linked” to its record of repression, including forced labor and torture. “Sanctioning North Korea’s nuclear proliferation should go hand in hand with condemning the devastating human rights abuses that persist on a massive scale across the country,” he said.

中美同意：聯國制裁北韓 規模空前

大陸外交部長王毅前往白宮會晤國家安全顧問萊斯，兩人同意聯合國安理會通過新決議案回應北韓挑釁；美國總統歐巴馬也參與會談，強調他關注建立持久、建設性的和富有成效的美中關係。

白宮國安會發言人普萊斯廿四日發表聲明指出，萊斯在白宮會晤王毅，兩人表明會致力於務實雙邊合作，盡可能縮小分歧。

萊斯和王毅都同意國際一致強烈回應北韓挑釁的重要性，包括通過規模超越以往的聯合國安全理事會制裁北韓決議案，兩人也同意不接受北韓成為核武國家。

王毅廿三日在與美國國務卿柯瑞的聯合記者會中預告，安理會正在磋商的新決議草案，可望於近日達成共識；而安理會官員廿四日透露，華府和北京已對草案達成協議，近日可能交由安理會審理。

除了北韓問題，萊斯和王毅在會談中也強調持續中的雙邊合作的重要領域，包括氣候變遷和落實伊朗核子協議。

聲明說，兩人坦率的討論海上議題，萊斯敦促中方採取具體做法回應美國和區域的關切，她強調美國強力支持尊重國際法的原則、通行無阻的合法商業活動、航行與飛越自由、以及和平解決分歧。萊斯也表達美國對大陸人權發展的關切。

歐巴馬也參與會談，強調他關注於建立持久、建設性的和富有成效的美中關係；他表達三月卅一日到四月一日在華府舉行的核子安全高峰會的重要性，也歡迎大陸國家主席習近平和大陸代表團與會，雙方一起合作讓會議成功。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/world/asia/north-korea-sanctions.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/asia-pacific/20160226/c26nations/zh-hant/

Video：Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said on Thursday that her government was confident that new United Nations sanctions on North Korea could curb its nuclear arms program.
http://nyti.ms/1TCLA58

2016-02-26．聯合報．A16．兩岸．華盛頓記者賴昭穎