This should be a surprise to absolutely no one who follows China and North Korea issues closely:
In the case of the three banks, which were not identified by name, China opposed U.S. sanctions on a North Korean front company in Hong Kong linked to the banks. Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled last year that the three companies were in contempt for failing to comply with the subpoenas and fined them each $50,000 per day.
Bloomberg News reported that the three banks appeared to be the China Merchants Bank, the Bank of Communications and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, identified as among China’s 10 largest banks. The banks told Bloomberg that they were not under investigation for sanctions violations.
In a second case involving covert Chinese support to North Korea, an FBI agent revealed in court papers that although China agreed to work with U.S. authorities in providing bank records under the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement, China never handed over any records. The FBI agent testified that based on the lack of cooperation “the MLAA process is not an effective way to obtain bank records from Chinese authorities with respect to investigations involving North Korea.”
That case involved a request for Chinese bank records regarding Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd., a North Korean front company in China.
The agent was quoted as saying “one reason that Chinese authorities do not want to assist with North Korean investigations is that producing such records could reflect badly on the Chinese government and the Chinese financial industry.”
Washington Times
You can read more at the link.
We have seen how Chinese fishermen have been challenging South Korean sovereignty well for more perspective, the Indonesians are having the same problem:
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday reaffirmed his country’s sovereignty during a visit to a group of islands at the edge of the South China Sea that China claims as its traditional fishing area.
Widodo, accompanied by top military officials, toured Natuna Islands on a naval ship in a move designed to send a message to Beijing.
“Natuna is part of Indonesia’s territory, there is no question, no doubt,” Widodo said in a speech after the trip. “There is no bargaining for our sovereignty.”
He then presided over a meeting with local administration officials and fishermen, discussing issues including development of the remote islands, about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) north of the capital, Jakarta.
His visit came a week after China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang in a news briefing in Beijing insisted that Chinese fishermen are free to conduct activities in their traditional fishing ground, which partly overlaps with Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone.
“Whether the Indonesian side accepts it or not, nothing will change the objective fact that China has rights and interests over the relevant waters,” Shuang said.
Shuang’s statement drew a nationwide indignation in Indonesia and prompted the military to beef up its forces at the islands. Although China has been making such claims for years, recently dozens of Chinese fishing boats, escorted by its coast guard vessels, were reportedly making more aggressive moves in the area and ignoring Indonesia’s warnings to leave.
Associated Press
You can read more at the link.
The Chinese fish boats are back, fortunately they did not murder or hurt anyone this time:
South Korea seized a Chinese fishing boat on charges of illegal fishing in its waters in the Yellow Sea, the Korea Coast Guard said Saturday.
The 15-ton fishing boat invaded the Northern Limit Line (NLL) by 4 kilometers near the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong.
The Coast Guard said it will carry out further investigations on seven Chinese fishermen on board.
Another 22 Chinese fishing boats were also evicted from the area.
Chinese fishing boats are often caught poaching in South Korean waters, and Chinese fishermen have used violence during raids by the South Korean Coast Guard. In 2011, a South Korean Coast Guard officer was killed by a Chinese skipper during a raid.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Did China try and pull a fast one on President Moon?:
Seoul has contradicted an attempt by Beijing to back South Korea into China’s official stance on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Korea Times
South Korean President Moon Jae-in was quoted by the Chinese foreign ministry to have stated that the troubled regions were China’s internal affairs during meetings on Monday in Beijing with President Xi Jinping, who also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
But the line was nowhere to be found in the official statement issued by the South Korean government and, on Tuesday, a spokesman from South Korea’s presidential office, also known as the Blue House, issued a clarification.
“President Xi explained that Hong Kong and Xinjiang issues were internal affairs. President Moon said ‘well noted’ in response,” the spokesman Ko Min-jung said.
Moon ― who has stayed largely quiet on the protests which have rocked Hong Kong for more than six months ― was the latest head of state to be quoted by Beijing in supportive terms of its policies.
You can read more at the link.
