China: Don’t punish firms linked to N. Korea

BEIJING: China has protested against Washington’s decision to impose sanctions against Chinese companies accused of conducting illicit economic deals with North Korea, the foreign ministry said.

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced measures targeting over 50 North Korea-linked shipping companies, vessels and trade businesses, hailing the package as the “heaviest sanctions ever” levied on the regime.

The measures, which the US says are aimed at forcing Pyongyang to roll back its banned nuclear programmes, apply to companies located or registered in North Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Panama and Comoros.

Washington has been locked in a nuclear standoff with Pyongyang, which is trying to develop missiles that can deliver an atomic weapon to major US cities, and the sanctions are designed to put the squeeze on North Korea’s already precarious economy and fuel supply.

“China is strongly opposed to the United States’ long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions on Chinese entities and individuals,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Saturday.

“We have lodged representations to the US and asked them to immediately cease the wrong practice so as to avoid undermining relevant cooperation between the two sides,” he added.