Beijing and Washington agree on sanctions for Pyongyang
After the illegal nuclear tests and missile launches, China and the United States meet to prepare a draft resolution extending the sanctions passed by the UN Security Council against the Kim regime. Council vote expected. New sanctions will include even the North Korean Ministry of Atomic Energy.
New York (AsiaNews) - Washington and Beijing have agreed a draft resolution that reinforces the sanctions issued by the United Nations Security Council against North Korea for its latest nuclear test. The two governments hope to put the draft to a vote of the 15 members of the Council "in the coming days". The agreement was reached yesterday at the UN; the day before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Washington for talks with his counterpart, John Kerry.
Two Council diplomats, anonymous for security reasons, explained to Reuters that negotiations have been ongoing for several weeks: " It’s a substantive, long, full draft … which I hope will be adopted in the coming days.There were a significant number of blockage points between the two countries. … There is an agreement between those two countries.”
As per UN practice, the resolution lists individual personalities and industries or government agencies who have worked or are working with Pyongyang's nuclear program. For the first time the, the draft reportedly includes the North Korean Ministry for Industry and Atomic Energy. Furthermore the sanctions also target theNational Aerospace Development Agency, or NAD’, the body responsible for February’s rocket launch. Other measures under consideration include the banning of North Korea from international ports - sea and air.
China and the United States has always had a different approach to the "excesses" of the Kim regime. Although in recent years Beijing has cooled its relations with Pyongyang, within the international community it has always recommended dialogue preventing overly harsh measures against North Korea. If approved, with these terms, the draft would be the first joint step towards an effective isolation of Pyongyang from the rest of the world.
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