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 China asked the United States on March 16 for help removing the
ships from the U.N. blacklist, according to a diplomatic cable sent
the same day from the U.S. permanent mission at the United Nations
to a group of other U.S. embassies.
The cable, reviewed by Reuters, showed wrangling between top
diplomats from the United States and China over the tough new North
Korea sanctions, weeks after Washington had presented a united front
with Beijing, Pyongyang's main ally and trade partner.
The U.S. mission at the United Nations declined to comment on the
cable or make its ambassador, Samantha Power, available for an
interview about the cable. The U.S. Treasury Department, which
administers U.S. economic and financial sanctions, also declined to
comment.
The removal of the four ships was confirmed in a press release,
which was seen by Reuters and will soon be issued by the Security
Council, according to U.N. diplomats.
 While Washington has been the driving force behind the toughening
international sanctions regime, China conducts 90 percent of the
trade with North Korea and is the key to enforcing them.
FOURTH NUCLEAR TEST
The ships were among 31 vessels sanctioned by the 15-member council
on March 2 because they were linked to Ocean Maritime Management
(OMM), a North Korean shipping firm known to transport arms and
other illicit goods for the secretive state.
"We discovered that they are not OMM ships," Chinese U.N. Ambassador
Liu Jieyi told Reuters on Monday. "The basis for the listing of the
ships is basically that they belong to OMM, so if you make a
mistake, then you correct the mistake."
U.S. and other Western officials have said all the original listings
were carefully vetted before the ships were added to the blacklist.
That list was appended to the sweeping Security Council resolutions
implemented on March 2, following North Korea's fourth nuclear test
in January.
The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
Security Council committee on North Korea sanctions agreed to the
request after China secured written commitments the four ships would
no longer use North Korean crews.
The four ships include the Jin Teng, a cargo ship detained by the
Philippines days after the sanctions took effect.
"We're pleased with the outcome," said the U.S. official. "It
achieved an impact, a real world outcome."
He added it was a sign of a "productive working relationship with
China" on North Korea and that it was "gratifying to see such
instant real-world effects" of the U.N. sanctions regime.
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U.S. FRUSTRATION
Liu had raised the issue of the four sanctioned vessels last week in
a meeting with Power, his U.S. counterpart, according to the cable
reviewed by Reuters.
Power approved the unclassified cable, which went from the U.S.
mission at the U.N. to American embassies in Manila, Tokyo and
Seoul. The cable pointed to American frustration with what U.S.
officials characterized as China's attempts to hold up the routine
renewal of a U.N. panel of experts in return for de-listing the
ships.
The panel is made up of a team of international experts who monitor
and research potential breaches of resolutions against North Korea
and recommend entities that could be sanctioned.
Liu had asked Power's help in removing the ships from the list in an
"easy, smooth and quick way," to get the panel renewed, according to
the document's characterization of Liu's request. The easiest way,
Liu said, "would be to work quickly to get all these issues
settled," according to the cable.
Power told Liu China's linking of the issues and attempts to hold up
the renewal of the panel was "not going over well in Washington,"
according to the cable, and asked China to let the renewal go
forward.
"You don't need to blackmail us, Power said, as we are indeed
interested in operating in good faith," the cable says of Power's
conversation with Liu.
Liu told Reuters on Monday he expected the experts panel would be
"renewed according to the normal procedure in the Security Council".
(Story refiles to fix Power's name in 2nd to last paragraph.)
(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park in SEOUL; Editing by Tony
Munroe and Bill Tarrant.)
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