Beijing : China has tightened restrictions on North Korea by issuing a long list of weapons-related technology and materials banned from export to its neighbor, reflecting Beijing's desire to get Pyongyang to recommit to scrapping its nuclear programs and rejoining disarmament talks.
The list of forbidden items posted by the Chinese Commerce Ministry on its website Tuesday includes those with both civilian and military applications in the nuclear, ballistic, chemical and biological fields. The notice said the list was aimed at boosting enforcement of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea passed as early as 2006.
China, wary of undermining its isolated neighbor and generating instability on its northeastern border, has often argued against stricter sanctions on North Korea and has, at times, been accused of not enforcing them enthusiastically enough.
However, Beijing was angered by North Korea's long-range rocket launch last December and its third nuclear test in February, leading it to agree to tightened sanctions in March that also promise further measures in the event of another launch or nuclear test.
The latest move will likely be seen in Pyongyang as another reprimand from its only substantial ally following a frosty patch in relations. Since coming to power in December 2011, Kim Jong Un has repeatedly angered Beijing by refused to heed Beijing's prodding to engage in economic reform and return to negotiations over its nuclear program.
U.S. officials have long pushed for tightened sanctions enforcement, with Secretary of State John Kerry, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller, and chief North Korea envoy Glyn Davies visiting Beijing on lobbying missions in recent months.
Those efforts have born some success, with Chinese customs agents tightening inspections on a range of items, including luxury goods that the North Korea leader uses to shore up his support from the North Korean elite. In late 2011, Beijing forced the China Construction Bank to close accounts opened by the Korea Kwangson Banking Corp. and the Golden Triangle Bank to comply with previous U.N. sanctions.
China provides North Korea with a crucial economic lifeline, supplying almost all its fuel and more than 83 percent of its imports, from heavy machinery to grain and consumer goods.
Ties between Beijing and Pyongyang had been seen to improve over the summer, but Chinese state media and government-backed scholars again criticized the North over its call last week for new talks without preconditions.
U.S. and other parties to the talks say they're not interested in sitting down with Pyongyang without clear signs it would honor a 2005 pledge to mothball its nuclear programs in return for aid. The deal fell apart in 2008 over demands for additional verification.
