Lone ally: China was caught
shipping missile-carrying vehicles to North Korea last year in violation
of international sanctions, a Japanese paper has reported. Picture: AP
Source: AP
By ERIC TALMADGE
TOKYO
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Japan has evidence that a Chinese company exported to North
Korea vehicles capable of transporting and launching missiles, in
possible violation of U.N. sanctions, Japanese media reported Wednesday.
China called the reports inaccurate, and denied violating any U.N. restriction.
According to the Japanese reports, four of the vehicles were
shipped from Shanghai to North Korea last August aboard the Harmony
Wish, a Cambodian-flagged cargo vessel. Japanese authorities tracked the
ship by satellite, and searched it after it had delivered its cargo,
when it transited through Japan the following month, the reports said.
Such vehicles -- called TELs, for transporter, erector, launcher
-- became the focus of international attention when North Korea
displayed what looked like several of them during a military parade in
its capital, Pyongyang, in April.
They are a concern because they could give the North the ability
to transport long-range missiles around its territory, making them
harder to locate and destroy.
Japan's top government spokesman declined to confirm the reports
Wednesday. But he said that if necessary, Japan would work with the
international community to determine if U.N. regulations were violated.
In Beijing, Liu Weimin, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said his country has not violated any restrictions.
"Chinese companies did not violate U.N. and Chinese laws," he
said, calling the reports "inaccurate." He did not specifically confirm
or deny the vehicles were sold, but said China is opposed to
proliferation and is "complying with U.N. laws and regulations."
Although no suspicious vehicles were aboard the ship when it was
searched in Japan, authorities found documents detailing the cargo it
had unloaded in North Korea, and that included the vehicles, according
to the Asahi, a major Japanese newspaper. It cited multiple but unnamed
government sources.
It said the exported vehicles were believed to have been the ones
used in the military parade, which was held shortly after a North Korea
rocket launch that was widely condemned as an attempt to develop its
long-range missile technology. The rocket, which North Korea claimed
carried a satellite, failed soon after liftoff.
NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, and other media later had similar reports, also citing unnamed government sources.
The Asahi said the evidence was shared with South Korea and the
United States, but claimed that Washington requested it not be made
public.
It identified the Chinese exporter as Wuhan Sanjiang Import
Export Co., a subsidiary of state-owned China Aerospace Science and
Industry Corp., and the North Korean importer as Rimmok General Trading,
which it said was likely a front company.
Immediately after the parade, private experts said the vehicles
probably came from China, citing similarities to Chinese design patterns
in the windscreen, the windscreen wiper configuration, the door and
handle, the grill, the front bumper lighting configurations, and the
cabin steps.
Despite the latest reports, experts say pinning a
sanctions-busting charge on Beijing would be difficult because it would
be hard to prove that Beijing knowingly approved the exports for
military purposes.
With different modifications, the vehicle can also be used in
commercial fields. The Asahi report said that China claims the vehicles
were to be used to carry lumber.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions against North Korea
after its first nuclear test in 2006 and stepped up sanctions after its
second test in 2009 to try to derail the country's rogue nuclear weapons
and ballistic missile programs. The sanctions restrict exports of
weapons or technology that could be used to boost those programs.
------
Associated Press writer Scott McDonald contributed to this report from Beijing.
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