Tension rises in China’s border cities
TUMEN: North Korea’s latest nuclear test has created tension in China’s northeast region bordering North Korea, with military personnel on the Chinese side seen peering through binoculars to monitor any suspicious activity across the border and with local residents concerned about the test’s impact on their business.
“I don’t think ties [between China and North Korea] will ever improve,” said a man running a retail shop in the city of Tumen in Jilin province, only dozens of meters from the border.
He used to visit North Korea to purchase items to sell in his shop, but now his entry is restricted as bilateral ties have soured.
The man recalled the moment when North Korea carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday, which other countries have detected as an artificial earthquake near North Korea’s nuclear test site. “The chandelier in the shop rattled noisily,” he said.
A man in the city of Longjing, also in Jilin, said he was frightened when the ground shook as North Korea tested the bomb.
“This area had shaken every time North Korea conducted a nuclear test, but I had never felt such a large tremor.”
“I screamed and ran from the building,” said the 45-year-old man, who is engaged in logistics business.
United Nations sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear and missile development also appeared to be affecting business in the northeastern Chinese city of Hunchun, known as a hub for trade with North Korea.
Many seafood shops that have traded North Korean seafood were closed and the street was empty. Last month the UN Security Council adopted a resolution fully banning North Korea from exporting seafood, among other items.
The sanctions were imposed following Pyongyang’s two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.
“Many other fellow traders lost their jobs. The sanctions will likely be prolonged because of this nuclear test,” a 52-year-old seafood trader said, expressing worries.