BEIJING: China released a further list of goods banned for export to North Korea on Monday, saying the items could be used to build weapons of mass destruction, amid a standoff between North Korea and the United States over its weapons programmes. China has released several such lists in recent years as North Korea steps up it nuclear and missile tests. China says it is doing its duty to help enforce the increasingly tough U.N. sanctions. The latest, extremely technical, list of dual-use goods, or products that have both civilian and military use, comes after a confidential report by independent U.N. monitors that said North Korea violated U.N. sanctions to earn nearly US$200 million in 2017 from banned commodity exports. China’s Commerce Ministry said in a statement on its website that the list was meant to comply with the requirements of new U.N. sanctions imposed last year. The new list names dozens of banned items including air scrubbers for underwater use, equipment to simulate flying conditions for non-civilian aircraft and gas masks not for use by firefighters.
