It seems that China is losing patience with its dependent teenage offspring. The Chinese have cut off all credit to the North Korean bank that financed the regime’s latest nuclear provocations.
BEIJING (AP) – One of China’s biggest banks said on Tuesday that it has halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the US of financing Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programmes in the latest sign of Beijing’s anger with its estranged ally.
The state-run Bank of China has notified the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea that its account or accounts were being closed and all financial transactions suspended, said a bank spokesman, reading a brief statement. The spokesman for the Beijing-based bank did not identify the number of accounts closed or provide further details.
The move comes after the Chinese leadership, installed last year, has shown growing frustration with North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong Un and the nuclear and missile tests his government has conducted, aggravating regional tensions.
In recent months, Beijing has displayed willingness to work with Washington to apply pressure, from signing on to UN sanctions to issuing a statement with Secretary of State John Kerry last month urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs
There is much to be recommended in a daily perusal of the Singapore Straits Times. You get news there that American and European papers are unaware of.