The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reaffirmed its cooperation with the international community on sanctions against North Korea, after Taiwan-based individuals and entities were included in an expanded sanction list released by the US Department of the Treasury on Friday.
Restrictions on North Korea’s imports of refined petroleum imposed by UN Security Council Resolution 2397 on Dec. 22, 2017, are a critical part of the UN sanctions regime, the department said in a news release on Friday, adding that the international community must implement and enforce all existing sanctions and take action against those who evade them.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control listed parties participating in ship-to-ship transfers that enable North Korea to import refined petroleum products, which it described as a “deceptive practice” by Pyongyang to evade sanctions.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The list included Taiwan-based individuals Huang Wang-ken (黃旺根) and Chen Mei-hsiang (陳美香), and companies Jui Pang Shipping Co (瑞邦海運) and Jui Zong Ship Management Co (瑞榮船舶管理), as well as Hong Kong-based Jui Cheng Shipping Co (瑞誠海運), for having engaged in at least one significant importation from or exportation to North Korea of goods, services or technology.
Also included was the vessel Shang Yuan Bao (International Maritime Organization reference No. 8126070), in which Huang, Chen and the three firms all have an interest.
Huang and Chen were responsible for the Panama-flagged vessel last year conducting at least two ship-to-ship transfers with North Korea-flagged vessels, the department said.
“The United States acknowledges and is grateful for Taiwan’s continued efforts to combat the DPRK’s efforts to evade sanctions and to obtain resources for its WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and missile programs,” the office said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The ministry yesterday said in a statement that it would not comment on investigations by local judicial agencies into the involvement of the Taiwan-based individuals and entities supporting North Korea.
The nation continues to cooperate with the UN Security Council and the global community in urging North Korea to forsake its nuclear weapons development programs, the ministry said.
The ministry called on Taiwanese not to engage in financial and commercial activities in breach of the UN Security Council’s resolutions to avoid related sanctions.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique