US Imposes Sanctions on China-Based Network for Supporting North Korean Missile Program
The alleged procurement network sought to support North Korea’s ballistic missile and space programs.
The United States is sanctioning a China-based network for its alleged role in procuring items for North Korea’s ballistic missile and space programs.
The alleged “procurement network” consisted of six individuals and five entities in communist China, according to a statement by the Treasury Department.
“[North Korea’s] continued development and proliferation [of its] ballistic missile technologies—in violation of U.N. sanctions—is both irresponsible and destabilizing for both the region and the international community,” Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson said.
North Korea’s programs rely heavily on foreign-sourced materials and components that it cannot produce domestically.
The Treasury said that the six individuals—Chen Tianxin, Du Jiaxin, Han Dejian, Shi Anhui, Shi Qianpei, and Wang Dongliang—worked to source hardware, including electronic components and metal alloys, for North Korean weapons development. They have been sanctioned under a statute that “targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their supporters,” the department said.
“The United States remains committed to using our tools to enforce these international sanctions, including disrupting the illicit procurement networks that provide key inputs for these technologies and holding accountable those who seek to enable these activities,” Mr. Nelson said.
The incident is just the latest in a long series of U.S. complaints alleging that China-based networks are actively propping up the weapons programs of authoritarian nations, including North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
Charging documents in that case also alleged that the covered incidents focused on the procurement of materials needed for Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Members of the alleged conspiracy were said to have worked for 13 years to smuggle electronic components from the United States through China and Hong Kong for the benefit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States designates as a terror organization.
As such, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that China-based efforts to support North Korean weapons development should be seen as indirect assistance to Russia’s war effort.
“The United States remains committed to using all available means to expose and disrupt the networks supporting [North Korea’s] unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs and its reckless proliferation of weapons that destabilize the region and enable Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine,” he said.