The Chinese authorities are bringing in citizens associated with smuggling on the Sino-Korean border for questioning, according to sources
“Although investigations into smuggling have been going on for a long time now, lately the frequency has increased. An official from China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) found out I had been making phone calls at the border and brought me in for questioning,” a Chinese smuggler from Jilin province told Daily NK on November 3.
Another source in China reported that “there was a case recently where the government imprisoned an individual for smuggling across the border.”
Both sources noted that beginning in October, there has been a rising number of inspections and patrols to detect smuggling by order of the central government.
With the possibility of easing Chinese-North Korea sanctions under discussion, China has been ramping up efforts to crackdown on smugglers and show compliance with the current sanctions to the international community. Another possible reason for the measures could be to appease the United States, with whom China is currently in negotiations with over a looming tariff increase.
However, China is all but exempting those who run large scale smuggling operations from the crackdown.
“Shouldn’t the government be trying to catch big fish. Why are they only going after us? Cracking down on small time smugglers while frozen octopus is openly being shipped through customs in mass quantities amounts to nothing more than chasing quotas,” the smuggler source said.
It has been reported that many sanctioned items are being openly traded in international waters between Liaoning province, Dandong and Sinuiju. It appears that China is trying to put on a show by only cracking down on peddlers and small merchants.
A source in North Pyongan Province said, “Our Chinese trading counterparts have given bribes to the MPS in order to smuggle across the Yalu river. Lately most of the measures being enforced by the Chinese military or the [Chinese] MPS have been solely targeting small-time smugglers.”
*Translated by Brian Boyle
