WASHINGTON (AFP) — China has given its word to the United States that it is "deeply committed" to implementing tough new nuclear sanctions against North Korea, a senior US official said Friday.
The official also said that as part of the effort to put a straitjacket on Pyongyang after its latest nuclear test and missile launches, Washington had set up an inter-agency team to coordinate the sanctions with other nations.
"They are certainly saying quite strenuously that they are deeply committed to full implementation of the provisions that are in the resolution," the senior administration official said, referring to China.
"The real test now will be in implementation," the official said.
"We are going to obviously take their word seriously, but we'll see in the end what they are prepared to do."
Beijing is often criticized in the United States for its willingness to join, or carry out tough sanctions regimes against North Korea, particularly in congressional circles.
On Thursday, Republican Senator John McCain said that China had been "unhelpful, especially on the issue of North Korea."
"I think it's time we told the Chinese that an important part of our relationship is how they react as far as North Korea is concerned, but also as far as Iran is concerned," the defeated 2008 presidential candidate said.
McCain dismissed "toothless" UN sanctions to curb North Korea's alleged spread of weapons and nuclear know-how, pointing to news reports that a North Korean ship, potentially carrying arms, was headed for Myanmar.
Since it left the western North Korean port of Nampo on June 17, the Kang Nam 1 has been shadowed by a US Navy destroyer under UN sanctions on suspicion of carrying missiles or related parts.
South Korea's YTN television news channel, citing an unnamed intelligence source, has said the 2,000-tonne ship was heading for Myanmar via Singapore.
The new team of US officials, under the leadership of former US ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg, will head to China soon to engage a similar Chinese government team in Beijing, the official said.
The official also said that Washington believed that unlike previous sanctions regimes, the new set of punishments for Pyongyang could work in convincing it to change its strategy regarding its nuclear program.
"Now we have some very powerful tools, and the challenge is to make effective use of them," the official said.
"It's going to take time to actually have a bite, but we are trying to get out of the box very fast."
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running high since Pyongyang carried out its second nuclear test last month.
After the underground test and subsequent missile launches, the Security Council adopted a UN resolution last week that includes financial sanctions designed to choke off revenue to the regime.
North Korea had already vowed to build more bombs and to start a new weapons programme based on uranium enrichment in response to the sanctions.
