China Bans Export Of Military Materials To North Korea

China has banned the export to North Korea of materials and technologies that can be used to build military equipment, from components to develop nuclear missiles to video cameras and sensors reported the Ministry of Commerce.

This ministry, together with other Chinese government agencies, released a list on Wednesday, which is published in the official press, detailing the goods and technologies that their companies can not sell to the neighboring country.

The Ministry of Commerce said that the publication of the document, which came into force on January 25, is aligned with the latest sanctions against the regime in Pyongyang adopted by the UN in November, in response to its nuclear tests.

Local analysts interpreted this move as an attempt to prove that China is complying with UN resolutions, after criticism by US President Donald Trump and his candidate for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.

China's list includes products that can be used for civilian purposes, but also have military utility. Submarines, materials, and equipment to develop nuclear missiles and chemical weapons, rocket-related or drone-related software, high-speed video cameras, sensors, telecommunications devices and lasers from this inventory.

Together with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense, the Atomic Energy Authority and the General Administration of Customs participated in the preparation of this list.

The ban on Chinese exports could strike a blow to the North Korean arms industry, which depends on the outside for its development, but it is unclear what effect it will have on the Pyongyang government, predicted the director of the University's Asian Research Center Yanbian, Jin Qiangyi.

"Our purpose is to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table or to take reform measures, and we should also pay attention to the livelihood of the North Korean people," Jin told the Global Times.

Beijing is the traditional ally of Pyongyang, but relations between the two communist countries are going through a stage of detachment, as Chinese authorities struggled to distance himself from the weapons testing regime of Kim Jong-un and supported international sanctions that are punishing.

Despite its rejection of North Korean military escalation, the Chinese government is also opposed to the deployment of the US anti-missile shield THAAD in South Korea, which it considers a threat to its own security.