The Trump administration announced a new initiative on Tuesday to enforce sanctions on North Korea. The State Department launched a website, DPRKrewards.com, that offers rewards of up to $5 million for information that leads to the “disruption” of “persons engaged in certain activities that support North Korea.”
While announcing the new initiative, a State Department official accused China of violating UN sanctions on North Korea. Alex Wong, deputy secretary for North Korea, listed a number of alleged violations. Wong claimed China hosts up to 20,000 North Korean workers and said the US observed Chinese ships transporting coal and other sanctioned goods from North Korea 555 times.
“On none of these occasions did the Chinese authorities act to stop these illicit imports. Not once,” Wong said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a hawkish Washington-based think tank.
Wong also said more North Korea-related sanctions are expected, and some could target individuals and entities inside China. “We have imposed numerous such sanctions designations in the past, and, I want to tell you, more are forthcoming,” he said.
The Trump administration has slapped numerous sanctions on Chinese firms in recent months, and more are expected to come before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20th. On Monday, the US sanctioned another Chinese company, accusing it of doing business with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.