Bank of China Freezes N.Korean Accounts

Most of the news these days rightly concerns the escalating conflict between Israel and the terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah. However, we cannot and should not take our eyes off of China and more to the point, North Korea, whom not long ago was testing ballistic missiles aimed at Hawaii.

The following article states that China has frozen N. Korean assets at the behest of the US. It's not a full-scale invasion nor a complete denunciation of PRK activities and aggressions but it is at the very least a gesture to show some solidarity by China with the West. The least of peace offerings and a sign that China is trying to work with us. Now whether this will amount to anything is probably a fools hope but as I've seen before, we live in a world of gestures and signs rather than actions.

This of course is why the UN is still so very popular with a certain segment of the population.

The Bank of China has frozen North Korea’s accounts at a branch in Macau due to Pyongyang’s counterfeiting and money laundering activities, it emerged Monday. It is the very BOC branch where South Korea's National Intelligence Service transferred US$200 million to the North to guarantee the success of the first North-South summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and then-president Kim Dae-jung in 2000. U.S. pressure on the Macau-based bank Banco Delta Asia last year to freeze North Korean accounts reignited conflict between the U.S and the North.

Grand National Party lawmaker Park Jin said a former high-ranking U.S. official told him about the Chinese bank’s decision when Park visited Washington last week. A South Korean government official later confirmed the account, saying Beijing could not turn down Washington’s demand to clean up dubious accounts since it is well aware of the importance of improving financial transparency for the sake of trade. Analysts say that is one reason behind the recent rift between North Korea and its long-term ally over the North’s missile tests.

Park said the North moved its accounts to other banks in Zhuhai, China after Banco Delta Asia took the action last year. The U.S nonetheless continued its investigation of the Bank of China and persuaded it to halt all transactions with North Korea, he said. “I heard from Washington sources that North Korea counterfeits yuan as well as U.S dollars, so China had no choice but to impose restrictions on North Korea,” the opposition lawmaker added.