13 Chinese, NKorean organizations banned
3 dead in China shooting
WASHINGTON, Nov 22, (Agencies): The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 13 Chinese and North Korean organizations Washington accused of helping evade nuclear restrictions against Pyongyang and supporting the country through trade of commodities like coal.
The US Treasury announced the action one day after President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, on its website.
The new curbs show the Trump administration’s focus on hurting trade between China and North Korea, which it sees as key to deterring Pyongyang from its ambition to develop a nucleartipped missile capable of hitting the United States.
“This designation will impose further sanctions and penalties on North Korea and related persons, and supports our maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
The latest sanctions included blacklisting three Chinese companies, Dandong Kehua Economy & Trade Co, Dandong Xianghe Trading Co., and Dandong Hongda Trade Co., which the Treasury Department said had done more than $750 million in combined trade with North Korea over almost five years until Aug. 31.
It said they were involved in trade of coal, iron ore, lead, zinc and silver ore, lead metal and ferrous products as well as notebook computers.
Dramatic video of defector: North Korean border guards were only steps behind a North Korean soldier when they opened fire and one briefly crossed the border pursuing the wounded defector as he dashed to the South Korean side, a video released on Wednesday by the UN Command (UNC) in Seoul showed.
The soldier, whose rank and identity have not been disclosed, was flown by a US military helicopter to a hospital after his escape to South Korea in a hail of bullets fired by North Korean soldiers on Nov. 13.
An official from UN Command (UNC) said the North Korea had been informed on Wednesday that it had violated the 1953 armistice agreement, which marked the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War.
The UNC official told a news conference that a soldier from the North Korean People’s Army (KPA) had crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), the border between the two Koreas, for a few seconds as others fired shots at the defecting soldier.
The dramatic video showed a military vehicle speeding toward the border, passing checkpoints manned by North Korean guards before appearing to get stuck in a ditch.
Timing of emperor’s abdication:
The timing of Emperor Akihito’s abdication, Japan’s first in nearly two centuries, is to be discussed by a special panel that will meet from Dec 1, the top government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Akihito, who turns 84 on Dec. 23 and has had heart surgery and treatment for prostate cancer, said in rare remarks last year that he feared age might make it hard to fulfil his duties.
A law adopted in June that allows him to step down and be succeeded by Crown Prince Naruhito, 57, left details, such as timing, to be worked out.
News the Imperial Household Council - whose 10 members include Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the chief justice of the Supreme Court along with two royals - would convene grabbed domestic headlines after Abe called on Akihito on Tuesday, apparently to inform the emperor of the meeting.
Once considered divine, Japan’s emperor is defined in the post-war constitution as a “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people”, and he has no political power.
But Akihito, who has spent much of his time on the throne seeking to soothe the wounds of a war fought in his father Hirohito’s name, and consoling people suffering from disasters or other woes, is widely respected by many average Japanese.
3 dead in shooting in China:
Three people were shot dead and six others wounded in a rare episode of gun violence in China, police said Wednesday, adding they were hunting for a number of suspects.
Officers were deployed after receiving reports that people were hit by apparent gun fire during a fight on Tuesday night in Chaozhou city, in southern Guangdong province.
“According to a preliminary investigation, two people died at the scene, one died after being sent to hospital and six more were wounded,” the police said on its Weibo social media account.
Gun violence is rare in China, where the government tightly restricts ownership of firearms. There are no official statistics on gun-related deaths.
China blacklists Skype:
Skype has apparently joined the lengthening list of internet tools on China’s blacklist, disappearing from download stores with Apple saying Wednesday it was ordered by the government to remove certain apps.
Skype is no longer available for download from the Chinese Apple Store or popular Android sites, with Chinese web-users saying it had been gone for weeks.
The company did not specify which laws such apps were found to have violated.
China has tightened its already stringent online policing this year, including enacting new rules that require tech companies to store user data inside the country as well as imposing fresh restrictions on what is permissible content.
Student illegally worked OT:
Apple said Wednesday its main Asian supplier employed Chinese high school students in illegal overtime work making the iPhone X, but added that it “took prompt action” to end the practice.
The Financial Times had reported that 3,000 high school students in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou had been working 11 hours a day for Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn.
“We’ve confirmed the students worked voluntarily, were compensated and provided benefits, but they should not have been allowed to work overtime,” Apple said in a statement.
“When we found that some students were allowed to work overtime, we took prompt action. A team of specialists is on site at the facility working with the management on systems to ensure the appropriate