CHINA/NORTH KOREA/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “Beijing and Washington clashed over a U.S. push to blacklist cargo ships for violating international sanctions against North Korea, including one vessel South Korea said it seized after an illegal transfer of oil.
The confrontation, playing out in jockeying at the United Nations, comes amid an escalating war of words between President Donald Trump and Beijing over China’s willingness to tightly enforce sanctions following Pyongyang’s nuclear and long-range missile tests. China’s critics say it has agreed to tough-sounding Security Council resolutions while modulating how strictly the sanctions are actually enforced. China denies it violates sanctions…
But China successfully got the list whittled down to just four vessels, according to diplomats familiar with its communications to the U.N. sanctions committee.
China’s role is crucial because the sanctions committee operates by consensus and reports to the Security Council, where Beijing holds a veto. Chinese officials at the U.N. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.”
-Michael R. Gordon and Andrew Jeong, “China Resists U.S. Efforts to Blacklist Ships Through U.N.,” The Wall Street Journal online, Dec. 29, 2017 12:46pm