Tag Archives: Sanctions

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warn U.S. against terrorist designation, new sanctions

Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned the United States on Monday that if it designated the group a terrorist organization and applied new sanctions its action could be perilous for U.S. forces in the region.

U.S. officials said earlier this year that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering a proposal that could lead to potentially categorizing the powerful Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

In Mid-June the U.S. Senate voted for new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and other activities not related to the international nuclear agreement reached with the United States and other world powers in 2015.

To become law, the legislation must pass the House of Representatives and be signed by Trump.

“Counting the Revolutionary Guards the same as terrorist groups and applying similar sanctions to the Revolutionary Guards is a big risk for America and its bases and forces deployed in the region,” said Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri, according to Sepah News, an official news site of the Guards.

He did not give details on what form of risk he foresaw for U.S. forces and bases.

The Revolutionary Guards are the most powerful security force in Iran, overseeing vast economic holdings worth billions of dollars and wielding huge influence in its political system.

Baqeri said on Monday that Iran’s missile program was defensive and would never be up for negotiation, according to Sepah News.

Three days after the U.S. Senate voted on the new sanctions, Iran fired missiles into eastern Syria, targeting bases of Islamic State which had claimed responsibility for attacks in Tehran which killed 18 people.

The Revolutionary Guards are fighting in Syria against militant groups which oppose President Bashar al-Assad.

Baqeri was also critical of recent remarks by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis that regime change would be necessary before the United States could normalize relations with Iran.

“American officials should speak a little more wisely, thoughtfully and maturely about other countries, particularly a powerful country like Iran which has stood against all plots with strength and pride,” he said, according to Sepah News.

 

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

 

Stalled Russia sanctions bill hits North Korean snag in U.S. Congress

The U.S. Capitol building is seen before U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in front of the U.S. Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington January 28, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bill that many lawmakers hoped would send a message to President Donald Trump to keep a strong line against Russia hit a new snag in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, as Republicans proposed combining it with sanctions on North Korea.

The Russia sanctions bill passed the Senate on June 15 by 98-2, but it has not come up for a vote in the House.

The chamber’s Republican leaders initially said there was a technical problem with how the bill was written, but after the Senate altered the bill to fix it, the measure still did not move.

On Friday, Republicans suggested reworking the legislation to add new sanctions on North Korea. The Russia sanctions measure passed by the Senate is part of a broader bill that also includes new sanctions on Iran.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he wanted the North Korea sanctions added to the bill.

“It would be a very strong statement for all of America to get that sanction bill completed and done, and to the president’s desk,” the Republican lawmaker said in the House as it wrapped up its activity for the week.

Democrats rejected the suggestion as another tactic by Republicans supporting White House objections to the bill.

“This isn’t a serious proposal. It’s the latest delay tactic,” said Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The House passed a new package of sanctions on North Korea in May by 419-1, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, said on Thursday his committee would be taking it up soon.

On Friday, Corker said he would be “more than glad” to consider adding North Korea to the legislation if the House chose to do so.

Engel said there was no point in passing North Korea legislation again.

The Trump administration objects to a provision in the Russia bill that sets up a process for Congress to approve any effort by the president to ease sanctions on Moscow.

Seeking a greater influence in foreign policy, Congress has included provisions in a few recent major bills, starting with Corker’s 2015 legislation forcing congressional review of President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Lawmakers and aides have been negotiating for weeks to try to craft a compromise that would allow the Russia-Iran bill to move forward. On Thursday, they said they thought it could advance soon but on Friday said the North Korea issue made that less likely. [L1N1K42BV]

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Exclusive: U.S. prepares new sanctions on Chinese firms over North Korea ties – officials

FILE PHOTO: Flags of U.S. and China are placed for a meeting in Beijing, China June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee

By Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Frustrated that China has not done more to rein in North Korea, the Trump administration could impose new sanctions on small Chinese banks and other firms doing business with Pyongyang within weeks, two senior U.S. officials said.

The U.S. measures would initially hit Chinese entities considered “low-hanging fruit,” including smaller financial institutions and “shell” companies linked to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, said one of the officials, while declining to name the targets.

It would leave larger Chinese banks untouched for now, the official said.

The timing and scope of the U.S. action will depend heavily on how China responds to pressure for tougher steps against North Korea when U.S. and Chinese officials meet for a high-level economic dialogue in Washington on Wednesday, the administration sources told Reuters.

President Donald Trump and his top aides have signaled growing impatience with China over North Korea, especially since Pyongyang last week test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts say could put all of Alaska in range for the first time.

U.S. officials have also warned that China could face U.S. trade and economic pressure – something Trump has held in abeyance since taking office in January – unless it does more to restrain its neighbor.

The so-called “secondary sanctions” now being considered are a way for the United States to apply targeted economic pressure on companies in countries with ties to North Korea by denying them access to the U.S. market and financial system.

Word of the sanctions plan comes as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley seeks to overcome resistance from China and Russia to a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing stiffer international sanctions on Pyongyang.

The targets now being weighed for sanctions would come from a list of firms numbering “substantially more than 10” that Trump shared with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Florida summit in April and which U.S. experts have continued to compile for review, according to one of the officials.

The administration has yet to see what it considers a sufficient response from China.

“The president is losing patience with China,” the official said, adding that there would be a “more aggressive approach to sanctioning Chinese entities … in the not-too-distant future.”

China’s embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The White House declined comment.

HALEY’S WARNING

Though the sources stressed that no final decisions had been made, they said China, North Korea’s main trading partner, was crucial to pressuring Pyongyang to prevent it from achieving the capability of striking the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile.

During a U.N. Security Council meeting last week, Haley threatened secondary sanctions if the council could not agree on new sanctions – though she did not cite China by name.

In late June, Washington imposed secondary sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company for helping North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and accused a regional Chinese bank, the Bank of Dandong, of laundering money for Pyongyang.

(((https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/sm0118.aspx)))

Fresh U.S. sanctions would be aimed at sending a message to Beijing of Washington’s resolve to act further on its own.

But they would stop short, at least for now, of the kind of broad “sectoral” sanctions Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, secured through unilateral and international action against Iran to pressure it into negotiations to curb its nuclear program.

Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to Washington, said on Monday that secondary sanctions were “not acceptable.”

“Such actions are obstructing cooperation between China and the U.S. and lead to questions about the real intentions of the U.S. side,” according to a transcript of his remarks from the Chinese embassy.

The threat of further secondary sanctions on Chinese companies could complicate next week’s U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue, an important forum for narrowing differences between the world’s two biggest economies.

While preparations for fresh sanctions are moving forward, tangible new steps by China could prompt Washington to put the measures on hold, the U.S. sources said.

“They’d have to show they’re really serious,” the second official said. “We’re not going to be paralyzed into inaction.”

U.S. and U.N. sanctions have so far failed to deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear and missile programs.

Trump pledged repeatedly during his election campaign to get tough on Chinese trade practices deemed unfair to the United States, but his rhetoric softened after the friendlier-than-expected April summit with Xi.

Shortly after their meeting, Trump said he had told Xi that China would get a better trade deal if it reined in North Korea.

But in recent weeks, Trump has fired off tweets denouncing China’s trade with North Korea and cast doubt on whether Beijing was doing enough to counter Pyongyang.

Reflecting growing concern about North Korea on Capitol Hill, two members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Democrat Chris Van Hollen and Republican Pat Toomey, announced on Wednesday they would soon introduce legislation for North Korea modeled on the Iran secondary sanctions laws passed by Congress.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick, additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Ross Colvin)

China trade with sanctions-struck North Korea up 10.5 percent in first half

FILE PHOTO: A Chinese flag is seen in front of the Friendship bridge over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China's Liaoning Province, April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

By Fang Cheng and Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s trade with isolated North Korea rose more than 10 percent in the January-June period from a year earlier, a Chinese official said on Thursday, amid pressure from the United States for Beijing to pressurize its troublesome neighbor.

Last week U.S. President Donald Trump denounced China’s trade with North Korea, saying it had grown almost 40 percent in the first quarter, and cast doubt on whether Beijing was helping to counter the threat from North Korea.

China has repeatedly said it is fully enforcing United Nations sanctions on nuclear-armed North Korea and there is nothing wrong with what it terms “normal” trade with Pyongyang, referring to areas not covered by sanctions.

Chinese customs spokesman Huang Songping told a briefing on China’s overall trade figures that total trade with North Korea expanded by 10.5 percent to $2.55 billion in the first six months of the year.

While China’s imports from North Korea dropped 13.2 percent to $880 million in the period from January to June, exports to North Korea rose 29.1 percent to $1.67 billion, he said.

The exports were largely driven by textile products and other traditional labor-intensive goods not included on the United Nations embargo list, Huang added.

“As neighbors, China and North Korea maintain normal business and trade exchanges,” he said, adding that goods for ordinary people and those used for humanitarian reasons are not subject to sanctions.

Overall trade growth with North Korea slowed in June, compared with previous second-quarter months.

Trade in dollar terms with North Korea rose about 12 percent in June from a month earlier to $499 million, according to Reuters calculations based on previously released data.

The calculations do not reflect revisions to earlier figures that may not have been announced.

In May, trade with North Korea gained 14.5 percent from April to $443.5 million, previously released customs data show.

ENFORCING RESOLUTIONS

Numbers showing an increase are not evidence that China is failing to enforce U.N. resolutions, with imports from North Korea falling every month since March, Huang added.

China suspended imports of North Korean coal in February, while imports of iron ore accord with relevant U.N. resolutions, he said.

“China customs have all along fully, accurately, conscientiously and strictly enforced relevant Security Council resolutions.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said U.N. resolutions did not cover iron and iron ore for civilian purposes, warning against confusion over U.N. sanctions being viewed as comprehensive sanctions on North Korea.

“For China to maintain normal economic relations with North Korea does not violate U.N. resolutions,” he told a daily news briefing.

Adding to the potential for further U.S.-China trade friction, China had a $25.4-billion trade surplus with the United States in June, up from $22.0 billion in May, customs data showed. The surplus with the United States was China’s largest since October 2015.

While China has been angered by North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests, it also blames the United States and South Korea for worsening tension with their military exercises and not doing enough to get talks back on track, as Beijing has proposed.

Though Trump took a more conciliatory tone on the North Korea issue and China’s role at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, Beijing has begun taking a harder rhetorical line with Washington in the past few days.

China’s Foreign Ministry this week urged a halt to what it called the “China responsibility theory” on North Korea, saying all parties needed to pull their weight.

Trade between China and North Korea has declined in both 2015 and 2016, a senior government-backed academic said in a front-page comment in the overseas edition of the official People’s Daily on Wednesday.

“Certain countries have no right to make wanton criticisms of China,” wrote Su Xiaohui of the Foreign Ministry think-tank, the China Institute of International Studies.

An “unexpected” jump in first-quarter trade between China and North Korea masked a declining trend, the state-run Global Times newspaper said last week.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Woo, Philip Wen and Stella Qiu; Editing by Sam Holmes and Clarence Fernandez)

U.S. aims for U.N. vote on North Korea sanctions within weeks

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley directs comments to the Russian delegation at the conclusion of a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the recent ballistic missile launch by North Korea at U.N. headquarters in New York

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley aims to put to a vote within weeks a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea over its long-range ballistic missile test, said several senior U.N. diplomats.

Haley told some U.N. diplomats late last week of the ambitious timeline for a U.N. response to North Korea’s launch on Tuesday of a missile that some experts believe could have the range to reach Alaska, and parts of the U.S. West Coast.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment on the timeline for a council vote. Some Security Council diplomats have expressed doubt that a draft resolution could be put to a vote quickly.

Following a nuclear weapons test by North Korea in September, while U.S. President Barack Obama was still in office, it took the U.N. Security Council three months to agree to strengthened sanctions.

The intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14. North Korea appeared to have used a Chinese truck, originally sold for hauling timber, but converted for military use, to transport and erect the missile on Tuesday.

The intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14. North Korea appeared to have used a Chinese truck, originally sold for hauling timber, but converted for military use, to transport and erect the missile on Tuesday.
KCNA/via REUTERS

The United States gave China a draft resolution to impose stronger sanctions on Pyongyang after the 15-member Security Council met on Wednesday to discuss the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, diplomats said.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told Reuters on Monday that it was important to ensure that any action the Security Council might take should be conducive to achieving the goal of a denuclearized, peaceful and stable Korean peninsula.

“We really must think very carefully about what is the best approach in the Security Council because a resolution, sanctions, are themselves not an objective,” he said.

When asked if the council could act within weeks, Liu said it would depend on how members “see the way forward in terms of council action, in terms of how that is put into the wider context of … improving the situation, preventing further tests, ensuring Security Council resolutions will be abided by.”

Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new sanctions on North Korea before formally involving other council members. Diplomats said the United States would informally keep Britain and France in the loop, while China was likely talking to Russia.

The United States, China, Russia, Britain and France are the Security Council’s permanent veto-wielding powers. The United States could also face a battle to persuade Russia that council action against North Korea is needed.

On Thursday, Russia objected to a council condemnation of North Korea’s missile launch because the U.S.-drafted statement labeled it an ICBM, a designation Moscow disagrees with. Diplomats said that negotiations on the statement had stalled.

North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the council has ratcheted up the measures in response to the country’s five nuclear weapons tests and two long-range missile launches.

During the Security Council meeting last Wednesday, Haley said some options to strengthen U.N. sanctions were to restrict the flow of oil to North Korea’s military and weapons programs, increasing air and maritime restrictions and imposing targeted sanctions on senior officials.

Diplomats said Washington proposed such options to Beijing two months ago, but that China had not engaged in discussions on the measures and instead only agreed to adding some people and entities to the existing U.N. sanctions list in June.

 

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish)

 

North Korea appeared to use China truck in its first claimed ICBM test

The intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 is seen in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang, July, 4 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

By James Pearson and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea appeared to use a Chinese truck originally sold for hauling timber to transport and erect a ballistic missile that was successfully launched on Tuesday, highlighting the challenge of enforcing sanctions to curb its weapons program.

North Korea state television showed a large truck painted in military camouflage carrying the missile. It was identical to one a U.N. sanctions panel has said was “most likely” converted from a Chinese timber truck.

Since 2006, U.N. sanctions have banned the shipment of military hardware to North Korea. But control of equipment and vehicles that have “dual-use” military and civilian applications has been far less stringent.

The vehicle was imported from China and declared for civilian use by the North Korean foreign ministry, according to a 2013 report by the U.N. panel. Tuesday’s launch was the first time the truck had been seen in a military field operation in pictures published in state media.

China, North Korea’s largest trading partner and its sole major ally, is under increasing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said Chinese efforts to rein in North Korea’s weapons programs have failed.

The truck had been previously on display at military parades in 2012 and in 2013 carrying what experts said appeared to be developmental models or mock-ups of North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Images on the North Korea’s state television showed soldiers working on the vehicle mounted with a missile, which was then erected and off-loaded ahead of the launch at a hillside location. Leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test.

The transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) is a vehicle designed to move a ballistic missile and stand it upright, allowing for a mobile system that makes surveillance difficult for spy satellites.

In its 2013 report, the U.N. panel of experts said the features of the vehicle in the 2012 parade exactly matched those of a vehicle sold by China’s Hubei Sanjiang Space Wanshan Special Vehicle Company.

DELIBERATE BREACH?

The company is a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, a state-owned company that makes the Shenzhou rocket as well as missiles.

A company manager reached by telephone declined to comment citing the sensitivity of the issue.

China submitted to the U.N. panel a copy of the end user certificate provided by the North stating that six of the vehicles were being imported for the purpose of transporting timber.

The panel said it “considers it most likely that the (North) deliberately breached” the certificate and converted the trucks into transporter-erector-launchers.

This year, North Korea used another Chinese-made truck model to tow submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) at a military parade on the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung.

Last year, state media published photos showing Chinese-made trucks being used in a new North Korean mobile rocket artillery system.

Both vehicles showed the logo or had markings specific to the Chinese company Sinotruk.

A Sinotruk sales official said in April he was not aware the company’s trucks were used in the military parade.

North Korean state media has in the past released images of Sinotruk chassis and cabins related to construction or mining.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, after the launch, it was opposed to North Korea contravening rules laid out in U.N. Security council resolutions. China was working hard to resolve the issue and urged all sides to meet each other half way, it added.

(Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

North Korea says intercontinental ballistic missile test successful

A man watches a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea's ballistic missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, July 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Christine Kim and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Tuesday it successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time, which flew a trajectory that experts said could allow a weapon to hit the U.S. state of Alaska.

The launch came days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations were due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea’s weapons program, which it has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

The launch, which North Korea’s state media said was ordered and supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, sent the rocket 933 km (580 miles) reaching an altitude of 2,802 km over a flight time of 39 minutes.

North Korea has said it wants to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

To do that it would need an ICBM with a range of 8,000 km (4,800 miles) or more, a warhead small enough to be mounted on it and technology to ensure its stable re-entry into the atmosphere.

Some analysts said the flight details on Tuesday suggested the new missile had a range of more than 8,000 km, underscoring major advances in its program. Other analysts said they believed its range was not so far.

Officials from South Korea, Japan and the United States said the missile landed in the sea in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone after being launched on a high trajectory from near an airfield northwest of the North’s capital, Pyongyang.

“The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on neighboring countries,” North Korea’s state media said in a statement.

The North said its missiles were now capable of striking anywhere in the world.

“It appears the test was successful. If launched on a standard angle, the missile could have a range of more than 8,000 km,” said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

“But we have to see more details of the new missile to determine if North Korea has acquired ICBM technology.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who convened a national security council meeting, said earlier the missile was believed to be an intermediate-range type, but the military was looking into the possibility it was an ICBM.

‘HEAVY MOVE’

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter: “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?” in an apparent reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Hard to believe South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”, Trump said in a series of tweets.

Stock markets in both South Korea and Japan fell, with the Kospi ending down 0.6 percent and Japan’s Nikkei share average ending down 0.1 percent.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would ask the presidents of China and Russia to play more constructive roles in efforts to stop Pyongyang’s arms program.

“Leaders of the world will gather at the G20 meeting. I would like to strongly call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue,” Abe told reporters.

Japan said on Monday the United States, South Korea and Japan would have a trilateral summit on North Korea at the G20. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also be at the July 7-8 meeting in Hamburg, Germany.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called for calm and restraint, and reiterated China’s opposition to North Korea’s violation of U.N. resolutions on missile tests.

Responding to Trump’s tweet, Geng said China had for a long time been working hard to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

“China’s contribution is obvious to all. China’s role is indispensable,” he told a daily news briefing.

China would continue to work hard and also hoped other parties would work hard too, Geng said.

“We hope all sides can meet each other half way.”

North Korea says it needs to develop its weapons in the face of what it sees as U.S. aggression.

It has conducted five nuclear tests, two since the beginning of last year, and numerous missile tests over the past year.

It often times its tests to show its defiance and to raise the stakes when it sees regional powers getting ready for talks or sanctions, analysts say.

The launch took place hours before the Independence Day celebrations in the United States. North Korea has in the past fired missiles around this time.

LAST CHANCE FOR TALKS?

Despite the unprecedented pace of tests since the start of last year, analysts have said they believed North Korea was years away from having a nuclear-tipped ICBM capable of hitting the United States.

North Korea is also trying to develop intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in the Pacific. The last North Korean launches before Tuesday were of land-to-sea cruise missiles on June 8.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the assessments of the Tuesday flight time and distance suggested the missile might was launched on a “very highly lofted” trajectory of more than 2,800 km.

The same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km on a standard trajectory, Wright said in a blog post.

“That range would not be enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but would allow it to reach all of Alaska,” he said.

South Korea’s Moon said on Monday North Korea now faced its “last opportunity” to engage in talks with the outside world.

North Korea has conducted four ballistic missile tests since Moon took office in May, vowing to use dialogue as well as pressure to bring Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs under control.

This week, North Korea was a major topic in phone calls between Trump and the leaders of China and Japan, both of whom reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Trump has recently suggested he was running out of patience with China’s efforts to pressure North Korea.

(For an interactive package on North Korea’s missile capabilities, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2t6WEPL)

(Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim in SEOUL, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Elaine Lies in TOKYO, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Ayesha Rascoe in WASHINGTON; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Robert Birsel)

U.S. targets Chinese bank, company, two individuals over North Korea

The flag of North Korea is seen in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

By Joel Schectman and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States imposed sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company on Thursday for helping North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and accused a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the actions were designed to cut off funds that North Korea uses to build its weapons programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council and unilateral sanctions.

“We will follow the money and cut off the money,” he told a news conference.

A Treasury statement identified the bank as the Bank of Dandong and the firm as Dalian Global Unity Shipping Co Ltd. It identified the two individuals as Sun Wei and Li Hong Ri.

The sanctions imposed on the two Chinese citizens and the shipping company blacklists them from doing business with U.S.-tied companies and people.

Bank of Dandong did not respond immediately to a request for comment. A staff member at Dalian Global Unity would not comment on the sanctions and subsequent calls to the firm’s office in Dalian went unanswered.

Mnuchin said U.S. officials were continuing to look at other companies that may be helping North Korea and may roll out additional sanctions.

U.S. foreign policy experts say Chinese companies have long had a key role in financing Pyongyang. However, Mnuchin said the action was not being taken to send China a message. “This wasn’t aimed at China. We continue to work with them,” he said.

Asked about the U.S. sanctions on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lu Kang said that China consistently opposes unilateral sanctions imposed outside the U.N. framework.

“We strongly urge the United States to immediately correct its relevant wrong moves to avoid affecting bilateral cooperation on the relevant issue,” he said, without elaborating.

China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, said China opposed the United States using domestic laws to impose “long-arm jurisdiction” on Chinese companies or individuals, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

“If a Chinese company or individual has acted in a way that violates United Nations Security Council resolutions, then China will investigate and handle the issue in accordance with Chinese law,” he told an event in Washington on Thursday evening.

GROWING FRUSTRATION

U.S. officials told Reuters this week that President Donald Trump was growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues, and was now considering possible trade actions against Beijing.

A senior White House official told reporters on Wednesday China was “falling far short of what it could bring to bear on North Korea in terms of pressure.”

The U.S. move came as Trump was due to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House on Thursday to discuss steps to push North Korea to abandon its weapons programs, which have become an increasing threat to the United States.

It also came after the United States sanctioned a Chinese industrial machinery wholesaler, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co, in September for its ties to North Korea’s nuclear program, the first time Washington had taken such a step against a Chinese firm.

China’s Foreign Ministry said in the same month Hongxiang was under investigation for “illegal behavior” and “economic crimes” following the provisions of U.N. resolution 2270, which imposed tighter sanctions on North Korea in March.

Mnuchin said the United States would discuss efforts to choke off funding for North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs with China and other countries at next week’s Group of 20 summit in Germany.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in an online notice published on Thursday the Bank of Dandong had served as a gateway for North Korea to access the U.S. financial system. Authorities said 17 percent of Dandong’s customer transactions in the bank’s U.S. accounts had ties to North Korea.

Anthony Ruggiero, a former senior Treasury official in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, said the action against Bank of Dandong was the first time U.S. authorities had sought to punish a Chinese bank accused of helping North Korea.

It would immediately cause Western firms to cut off any transactions with Bank of Dandong, he said. It may also cause financial institutions in Western Europe and the United States to further scrutinize whether their Chinese business could have links to North Korea.

“The designation will make reputable Western banks ask questions about larger financial institutions in China,” said Ruggiero, who is now a senior fellow at the non-profit Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Joel Schectman; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in WASHINGTON, and Meng Meng, Shu Zhang, Ben Blanchard and Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Editing by Diane Craft and Paul Tait)

Senate revises Russia sanctions bill, sends it to House

National flags of Russia and the U.S. fly at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate resolved a technical issue on Thursday that had stalled a new package of sanctions on Russia but the measure faces opposition in the House that could mean more delays, lawmakers said.

The Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act, which also includes the Russia sanctions, passed the Senate in a 98-2 vote on June 15.

Many lawmakers hoped the bill would become law in time to send a strong message to Russian President Vladimir Putin before President Donald Trump’s meeting with him in Germany next week.

But the Senate bill stalled when House Republican leaders said it violated a constitutional requirement that legislation affecting revenues originate in the House, known as a “blue slip” violation.

Lawmakers from the two chambers have bickered about it since. Democrats accused House Republicans of trying to kill the bill to please Trump after administration officials said they had concerns about it. House Republican leaders insisted their objection was solely a procedural one.

“The speaker has made clear that we will take up sanctions once the House receives it,” said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan.

The Senate resolved the procedural issue on Thursday. But the delay means the House will not vote until after the G20, because of Congress’ recess next week.

“This is now going to be a referendum on the Republican leadership, if they are going to go along with the president’s coddling of Putin and the Russians, then that will have to be their legacy,” said Representative Eliot Engel, the top House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat.

Engel and Republican committee chairman Ed Royce have said they want the sanctions passed quickly.

Some House Republicans have reservations. Representative Pete Sessions, whose home state of Texas is central to U.S. energy, said he wanted assurances about how the bill would affect businesses.

Representative Mark Meadows said he would look at the bill closely after hearing from the Italian, German and British ambassadors, who had energy-related concerns.

“It could potentially run into trouble. But it’s too early to tell,” Meadows said.

The legislation would put into law sanctions previously established via ex-President Barack Obama’s executive orders. It includes sanctions on mining and other industries, and targets Russians responsible for cyber attacks or supplying weapons to Syria’s government.

It also sets up a review process that would require Trump to get Congress’ approval before easing sanctions on Russia.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Frances Kerry and Bill Trott)

U.S. envoy slams U.N. Security Council for inaction on Iran

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifies to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "Advancing U.S. Interests at the United Nations" in Washington, U.S., June 28, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed the Security Council on Thursday for failing to take any action against Iran, which she said had “repeatedly and deliberately violated” sanctions imposed by the body.

“The Security Council has failed to even take minimal steps to respond to these violations,” Haley told a council briefing on Iran. “We must … show Iran that we will not tolerate their egregious flaunting of U.N. resolutions.”

Most U.N. sanctions were lifted 18 months ago under a deal Iran made with key world powers to curb its nuclear program. But Iran is still subject to an arms embargo and other restrictions, which are not technically part of the nuclear agreement.

U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman briefed the council on Thursday on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ third six-monthly report on the implementation of the remaining sanctions and restrictions, enshrined in resolution 2231.

“The secretary-general’s report makes clear that Iran is in violation of the Security Council resolution 2231 and so the question becomes ‘what is the Security Council going to do about it?'” Haley said.

No council members have proposed taking any action against Iran. Diplomats say veto-powers Russia and China were unlikely to agree to more measures. Russia on Thursday questioned some of the findings of Guterres’ report.

Feltman told the council that in relation to a weapons seizure by the French Navy in the northern Indian Ocean in March 2016, the United Nations was “confident that the weapons seized are of Iranian origin and were shipped from Iran.”

The report also looked at Iran’s Jan. 29 launch of a ballistic missile and noted there was no consensus within the Security Council on how the launch related to resolution 2231.

“I call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to avoid such ballistic missile launches, which have the potential to increase tensions,” Guterres said in the report.

A year ago Guterres’ predecessor Ban Ki-moon described ballistic missile launches by Iran as “not consistent with the constructive spirit” of the nuclear deal.

Under the U.N. resolution, Iran is “called upon” to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years. Some states argue that language does not make it obligatory.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is reviewing the nuclear deal – agreed to under President Barack Obama – and Haley said that “until that review is completed we will comply with our commitments and we expect Iran to do the same.”

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)