Japan sanctions Chinese firms to pressure North Korea

Countries are frequently at odds over a maritime territorial dispute

Japan yesterday slapped sanctions on two Chinese firms, including a bank accused of laundering North Korean cash, amid concerns Pyongyang is prepping for another missile test, the government said.

Japan has stepped up calls for further sanctions against North Korea since Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this month in defiance of repeated UN resolutions.

The test has raised tensions in the region, pitting Washington, Tokyo and Seoul against China, Pyongyang’s last remaining major ally.

Japan’s move has added further acrimony to often fraught bilateral relations with China and drew a harsh response from Beijing.

Despite being major trading and investment partners they are frequently at odds over a maritime territorial dispute and lingering tensions over Japan’s history of aggression in the first half of the 20th century.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said five entities, including two Chinese organisations, and nine individuals will be put on Japan’s blacklists in connection with ties to North Korea.

They will be “newly subject to asset freezing” and other unilateral punishment, Kishida said without elaborating or naming any of them.

“It is important to strengthen pressure so that North Korea should act toward denuclearisation,” Kishida said.