US sanctions Chinese bank for laundering North Korean cash
WASHINGTON: The United States slapped unprecedented sanctions on a Chinese bank accused of laundering North Korean cash after President Donald Trump said Beijing’s efforts to put the brakes on Pyongyang’s nuclear drive had failed.
As South Korea’s new president visited Washington, the Treasury Department announced the Bank of Dandong would be severed from the US financial system for acting “as a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity.” And while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the move was not targeted at China’s government, it is likely to infuriate Beijing, which says it has been unstinting in its efforts to ease tensions with North Korea.
The announcement came on the same day that it emerged the Trump administration had approved US$1.3 billion in arms sales to Beijing’s archrival Taiwan and as the State Department voiced concerns about basic freedoms in Hong Kong under Chinese rule.
Since early in his administration, Trump has pushed China to do more to rein in the North Korean regime and its leader Kim Jong-un.
However, he raised eyebrows last week when he thanked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for Beijing’s help but then concluded that Xi’s efforts had “not worked out.”
Trump did not spell out what he intended to do next. The Treasury announcement said Dandong had been identified as “a foreign bank of primary money-laundering concern” that had been “facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea’s WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and ballistic missile programs.” — AFP