China will begin restricting oil exports to North Korea

BEIJING — China will soon begin restricting oil exports to North Korea, the country’s Commerce Ministry announced Saturday, marking a major step by Pyongyang’s top ally and trading partner to further isolate the country from the global economy.

China said the new restrictions are in accordance with United Nations sanctions leveled against the North to stymie its nuclear and missile ambitions. They include a total and immediate ban on natural gas and textile exports, and limiting annual petroleum exports to 2 million barrels beginning Jan. 1.

“When approaching the upper limit, Chinese government authorities will issue a notice based on the export situation,” said a statement on the Commerce Ministry’s website. “Once it reaches the limit, from the date of implementation, no refined oil products will be exported to North Korea.”

China has been North Korea’s top ally for decades, and now accounts for an estimated 90 percent of the country’s trade. Yet Beijing has been increasingly uneasy with its northeastern neighbor’s repeated nuclear and missile tests.

Chinese state media have been inconsistent in discussing the prospects of an oil ban. In April, the Global Times — a state-run tabloid that often reflects official thinking — raised the prospect of curbing oil exports in retaliation for North Korea’s increasingly provocative behavior. Yet in early September, after North Korea conducted its sixth and biggest nuclear test, it called the prospect of a full oil embargo “rash and extreme.”

“If China completely cuts off the supply of oil to North Korea or even closes the China-North Korea border, it is uncertain whether we can deter Pyongyang from conducting further nuclear tests and missile launches,” it said. “However, confrontation between the two is likely to occur.”

Whether China will fully enforce the restrictions remains unclear.

President Donald Trump has put China at the forefront of U.S. efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear program.

On Thursday, Trump announced an executive order authorizing a new round of sanctions aimed at slowing North Korea’s progress toward being able to launch a nuclear strike on the continental U.S.