China cuts delivery of oil to North Korea

Washington Times:

China in February did not export any crude oil to North Korea, the first time exports have fallen to zero for a year, possibly as punishment for Pyongyang’s nuclear test last month, Reuters news agency reported, citing customs data.

If a response to the Feb 12 nuclear test, the move would be another of several significant Chinese steps cooling its traditionally strong relationship with North Korea. Beijing is the country’s single major trading partner and only ally.

China normally sends the isolated Communist dictatorship on its north eastern border an average of roughly 300,000 barrels of oil a month, with a value of about $380 million, Reuters reported.

The agency quoted one anonymous Chinese official as saying supplies might have been subject to “some kind of curb,” as a response to North Korea’s illegal nuclear test Feb 12.

China has generally opposed sanctions against North Korea, fearing the refugee inflows and other destabilizing consequences of regime collapse there. But last month, it relented and backed harsh U.N. sanctions in response to Pyongyang’s underground nuclear test.

Veteran defense intelligence analyst and Asia watcher John McCreary noted that North Korea has no other reliable sources of crude oil.

“The lack of Chinese crude supplies in February implies that North Korea has had to draw on fuel stocks to sustain the nationwide [military and civil defense] training [drills]” the country is staging, he wrote in his daily e-newsletter NightWatch.

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China is probably sending a message to the young leader of North Korea.  It is about time.  He is close to unleashing the nuclear potential of South Korea and Japan which is something China wants to avoid.