Secondary sanctions damage cooperation

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Tuesday on 16 entities and individuals, mostly Chinese and Russian, for alleged business ties with the nuclear and missile program in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Such US action is a major distraction from the real issue in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a reflection of failed US policies.

China has not only endorsed the UNSC Resolution 2371, but earnestly implemented all the relevant resolutions on DPRK. China, however, has opposed unilateral sanctions imposed by the US outside the UNSC framework. China has stated that it opposes such “long-arm jurisdiction” by any other country using their domestic laws against Chinese entities or individuals.

China has made it clear that if any Chinese entities or individuals were found violating UNSC resolutions, they will be investigated and punished according to Chinese laws.

The US has long believed that sanctions are a silver bullet. But its past track records have shown that the majority of sanctions not only failed but caused humanitarian disasters in other countries. It is also not hard to tell that its sanctions and heightened sanctions on DPRK have failed to stop the country from pursuing its nuclear and missile program.

There is little doubt that such secondary sanctions will have any effect on DPRK in changing its course.

However, the Tuesday announcement will greatly undermine the trust and cooperation between the US and China and Russia, the two countries which endorsed the UNSC resolution on Aug 5 and in previous years.

Lack of trust and cooperation between relevant parties, especially between the US and DPRK and between US and China, is a major stumbling block to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The US has always blamed DPRK for the failure in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, and never wants to acknowledge that its own behaviors, such as breaking its promise to deliver two light water reactors to DPRK in time under a 1994 agreement, or imposing financial sanctions on DPRK soon after a joint statement from the Six-Party Talks in 2005, have contributed to the current impasse.

This is not to mention that the US has a lot to do in recovering its credibility after removing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 after he gave up his nuclear weapons program.

Secretary Tillerson’s words on Tuesday is welcome when he acknowledges that the DPRK has not conducted missile and nuclear test since the UNSC resolution on Aug 5 and he hopes this would lead to dialogue in the future. But the Treasury announcement on Tuesday directly contradicts to such efforts.

There is little doubt that such secondary sanctions will have any effect on the DPRK in changing its course.