On a sunny, early morning in January, the oil tanker New
Konk moved into a shipyard in China‘s Fujian province for repairs. It was an
otherwise routine event, but for two details.
اضافة اعلان
First, the ship‘s operators transmitted a false ship name, a
deceptive practice often used to disguise a vessel‘s origins. And second, the
New Konk had been identified by the United Nations (UN) in early 2020 for illicitly
delivering oil to North Korea.
The ship was neither confiscated nor reported by Chinese
authorities.
New satellite images obtained by The New York Times show
that China has allowed the New Konk and similar tankers to use its
infrastructure and territorial waters to smuggle oil into North Korea,
undermining international sanctions.
The UN Security Council asks member states
to impound vessels within their territory that are believed to be involved in
sanctions violations.
Refined petroleum products such as fuel are not only crucial
to North Korea‘s overall economy, but also to its nuclear and ballistic missile
program, the target of the sanctions. Imports of refined petroleum products,
currently capped at 500,000 barrels per year, are an essential pressure point
for countries that favor strong economic penalties for North Korea.
China supported the UN Security Council resolution
restricting North Korea‘s fuel imports. But the images show the country has
been willing to turn a blind eye to violations.
The Shipyard
Satellite images commissioned and analyzed by The Times from
the company Planet Labs show the New Konk on a river in the coastal city of Ningde,
in eastern China, on January 1, 2021. The two images, taken about two hours
apart, show the New Konk as it moved into the shipyard‘s dry dock, the area of
a shipyard that is used for the repair or construction of vessels.
In order to track activities by ships such as the New Konk,
the UN Security Council ‘s North Korea sanctions committee gets technical
support from its Panel of Experts, which investigates and reports sanctions
violations. China, a permanent member of the Council, is involved in deciding
how to respond to the recommendations from the panel.
The new satellite images show that China has ignored some of
those recommendations, including a global port ban.
“The UN panel reported the New Konk to the Security Council,
China accepted the report, but allows this ship, recommended for a global port
ban, into its dockyards for repair,” Hugh Griffiths, a consultant with
expertise in sanctions and the former coordinator on the panel, said in a
written statement on The Times’ findings. “This is not a good look.”
The Home Base
China‘s hands-off approach to tankers linked to North Korea
is also visible in Sansha Bay, 49km southeast of the Ningde shipyard. The
area has become a home base for oil tankers with ties to North Korea.
A satellite image from November 2020, analyzed by the think
tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), shows half a dozen oil tankers
that have been publicly identified by the UN as providing illicit oil to North
Korean ports or tankers. Also visible is a Chinese navy boat, apparently
patrolling the area.
One of the ships seen in the satellite images is the Diamond
8, a vessel at the center of a recent New York Times investigation and a new
report by RUSI and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a think tank based
in Washington.
“The UN panel recommendations, the photographs and satellite
imagery provide reasonable grounds to believe that these vessels have violated
the resolutions,” Griffiths said. “But at the moment, China is giving such
vessels safe harbor.”
Another ship in Sansha Bay is the Yuk Tung, which the
Security Council blacklisted in March 2018. China is obligated to take action
against the Yuk Tung because it has been designated as having violated
sanctions by the Security Council.
The ship has been sitting idle in Chinese waters since at
least January 2020, according to a Times review of satellite imagery. Chinese
authorities declined to respond when asked if the ship had been impounded or
reported to the UN sanctions committee.
Instead, they provided a comment adapted from a December 2,
2020, press briefing from Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry,
in which she called on the UN Security
Council “to start discussions on rolling back sanctions” against North Korea.
A spokesperson for the United States Mission to the UN also
declined to comment on the specifics of The Times‘ findings, but stated that “we
expect UN Security Council members to lead by example.”
The Beneficiary
Over the last year, North Korea has expanded its oil
infrastructure, building a new oil terminal in the major port of Nampo, where
the oil tankers harbored in China regularly deliver their oil.
According to estimates by some UN member states, North Korea
has exceeded the annual cap of 500,000 barrels per year since the measure took
effect on January 1, 2018. Both China and Russia, another permanent member of
the Security Council, have disputed these claims.
The Biden administration is expected to release details on
its North Korea policy in the coming weeks. And its approach will likely depend
on managing frosty relations with China, which President Joe Biden has
described as the nation‘s most significant foreign policy challenge.
The goal of denuclearization is one area where US officials
hope China and the United States can find common ground. But China‘s inactions
regarding the tankers delivering oil to North Korea may stand in the way, said
Griffiths.
“They negate some of the most important measures that would slow, if
not halt, these UN prohibited programs.”
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