China's President Xi Jinping (R) shaking hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Beijing on March 27. Data suggests China might have used its economic clout to ensure it remained at the heart of international negotiations involving North Korea Credit: AFP
The Telegraph: China turns the screw on North Korea by cutting its petrol supply, report says
China has turned off the tap on crucial goods for North Korea in a bid to pile on economic pressure as South and North Korean leaders prepare for an unprecedented diplomatic summit this April, and hopes for May talks between the US the isolated country mount.
The leaders of North and South Korea are to meet on April 27 for the first time in more than a decade, the two countries announced on Thursday after preliminary talks between senior officials.
An analysis of Chinese customs data from Aberdeen Standard Investments has revealed that China’s exports of refined petroleum to North Korea have collapsed in the last five months, to as little as 3.7 per cent on the previous year.
Other products have also been hit. North Korean steel imports from China have fallen dramatically, along with car imports. Economists believe that the data may explain the recent dramatic shifts in North Korean policy.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un provoked widespread international attention this week with a trip to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. This followed the country's attendance at the Winter Olympics, and was another highly unusual step for closed-off state, known for its efforts to proliferate nuclear weapons an oppressive regime.
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WNU Editor: Now we know why North Korea offered to enter into talks with South Korea and the U.S. during and ater the Olympic Games, and why North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un scurried to China this past week when Beijing gave him an invitation to visit the capital and to discuss the upcoming talks. He is being squeezed, and we now to what extent he has been squeezed. The big question that I have right now is that since Kim Jung-Un's visit, will China open the borders to export these products, or will they keep on squeezing him?
