Taiwan tells shippers to follow N.Korea sanctions as it inspects port

Taiwan, claimed by China as its own, is not a member of the United Nations, but says that as a responsible global player it is committed to enforcing sanctions to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

As such, Taiwan government officials inspected one of the island’s major ports on Thursday to check shippers were in compliance with United Nations sanctions against North Korea, after previously being implicated in breaking them.

In 2018, independent UN monitors told a UN Security Council sanctions committee in a confidential report they had investigated cases of ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products in violation of sanctions and that the network behind the vessels was primarily based in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Transport Ministry said the inspection team it had sent to Taichung Port did not find any evidence of wrongdoing related to North Korea, but urged all shipping companies and operators to continue to comply with UN sanctions.

It said: “Do not engage in transactions with North Korea or assist in the transport of materials, so as to avoid violating the law and avoid chartering vessels that violate UN Security Council resolutions or are suspected of violating UN embargo measures.”

For more information visit tc.twport.com.tw/en/

12th October 2020