China says reports of Chinese ships sending oil to DPRK untrue

BEIJING -- China on Friday said the reports of Chinese ships sending oil to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "do not accord with facts."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a daily press briefing.

Reports alleged that a Chinese ship sent oil to a DPRK ship at high sea on Oct 19. The United States said Thursday that it was disappointed with China allowing oil to enter the DPRK.

Hua said that China had immediately investigated the relevant ship and found that it has not docked in any Chinese ports and had no entry and departure records of Chinese ports since August.

She said China did not know if the ship had docked in the ports of any other countries.

"The relevant reports do not accord with facts," she said. "China has always comprehensively and strictly implemented the UN Security Council's resolutions and carried out its due international obligations."

"China has never allowed any Chinese citizens or enterprises to conduct any activities that run counter to Security Council resolutions," she said. "If there is solid evidence proving that there is on the Chinese side any violation of the Security Council resolutions, China will surely deal with it in accordance with laws and regulations."

Meanwhile, Hua called for "comprehensive and balanced" implementation of all DPRK-related resolutions.

"All Security Council resolutions including the Resolution 2397 have contents of sanctions as well as peaceful and political solutions, and support in restarting six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," she said. "We hope parties concerned could implement the resolutions in a balanced way so as to solve the issue via dialogue and promote the denuclearization of the peninsula."