中国的大银行一直在静静地肯定地断绝了北韩的钱。
这不是他们麻烦的邻居。这是因为对美国的恐惧
反响。
北韩边界附近的银行分行告诉英国广播公司，他们被指示不要
为该国的公民和企业开立任何新账户。
这不是联合国制裁制度的一部分。
这是试图进一步推动针对被指控的中国银行的美国措施
与北朝鲜做生意制裁。
美国财政部除了联合国之外，还有自己的制裁机构将公司列为黑名单
据说有人帮助平壤发展核武。
一旦一个人或公司被放置在美国禁止实体名单上，美国（甚至
外国公司）在处理这些公司时，可能会在美国境内受到严格的处罚。
'导管'
中国的金融机构被指控洗钱用来促进北方
韩洲洲际弹道导弹和核弹头发展。
据说平壤的政府是利用前线公司通过这个世界各地的钱来移动
中国银行。
因此，华盛顿特区的官员一直在威胁要放置中国大型银行
在黑名单上：对这些巨大机构的国际制裁可能导致
全球经济冲击波。
所以美国发射了一个警戒。
近几个月来，丹东相对较小的银行被列入黑名单。
美国财政司司长宣布，美国人将被禁止与之合作，
“丹东银行是朝鲜进入美国和国际的渠道
金融系统，包括为公司提供数百万美元的交易
涉及北韩的大规模杀伤性武器和弹道导弹计划。“
中央银行订单
中国的大银行不能面对类似的举动。
中国银行和工商银行至少七家分行的工作人员
中国银行向英国广播公司确认，新的北韩银行账户将不会开放。
他们说这个过程已经在几个月前开始了。
一位工行银行工作人员表示，这是遵循国家中央银行的命令
中国人民银行
向中国人民银行提供的有关信息的电话和传真请求未得到答复。
一包钱
吉林省区域首府长春，中国银行职员说：“全部
与北韩有关的银行活动现在由于是受制裁的国家暂停使用“。
自然会有办法解决这个问题。
所有北韩官员都需要做的是在图们江沿岸运送一袋钱，找到一个
中国公民作为中介人，然后让他们代为开立一个帐户。
现有帐户仍然可以使用或潜在的程度也不清楚
被迫关闭
松开
但中国似乎对美国的威胁充满信心。
当英国广播公司要求外交部发言人耿双关闭北朝鲜时
他说：“我不知道细节，反对单方面的制裁，
特别是根据某国的国内长期管辖权
法。”
中国可能会反对美国以“长期管辖”为重
宁愿削减一些北韩人，而不是面对国内外的经济动荡。
据美国政府说，去年中国与中国的货物和服务贸易
共计6482亿美元。
中国大银行促进这一交易。所以你不能想像华盛顿想要的
危害它
然而，缺乏全面的制裁措施，可能还有较少的措施。
然而，即使是涉及其主要金融机构的任何丑闻的不良宣传也不是
中国欢迎。
所以北京如果挂在上百的话就会从北韩放弃数百万美元
数十亿美元。China's big banks have been quietly but surely weaning themselves off North Korean money.
This is not particularly about their troublesome neighbour. It is because of a fear of US repercussions.
Bank branches near the North Korean border have told the BBC they've been instructed not to open any new accounts for that country's citizens and businesses.
This is not part of any United Nations sanctions regime.
It is an attempt to head off further US measures targeting Chinese banks which are accused of doing sanctions-busting business with North Korea.
Quite apart from the UN, the US Treasury has its own sanctions regime blacklisting companies and people who are said to have assisted Pyongyang in developing nuclear weapons.
Once a person or a company is placed on the American list of prohibited entities, US (and even foreign) companies can face strict penalties within the US for having dealings with them.
'Conduit'
China's financial institutions have been accused of laundering funds used to facilitate North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear warhead development.
The government in Pyongyang is said to use front companies to move money around the world via Chinese banks.
For this reason, officials in Washington DC have been threatening to place major Chinese banks on the black list: international sanctions against these enormous institutions could cause global economic shockwaves.
So the US fired a warning shot.
In recent months, the relatively small Bank of Dandong was blacklisted.
Announcing that Americans would be barred from doing business with it, the US Treasury said: "The Bank of Dandong acts as a conduit for North Korea to access the US and international financial systems, including by facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's WMD and ballistic missile programs."
Central bank order
China's big banks could not afford to face similar moves.
Staff from at least seven branches from the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have confirmed to the BBC that new North Korean bank accounts will not be opened.
They said this process had started months ago.
One ICBC bank worker said that this had followed an order from the country's central bank, the People's Bank Of China.
Telephone and faxed requests for information on this to the PBOC went unanswered.
Bag of money
In Changchun, the regional capital of Jilin Province, a Bank of China staff member said, "all bank activities related to North Korea are suspended now because it is a sanctioned country".
Naturally there will be ways around this.
All a North Korean official needs to do is carry a bag of money across the Tumen River, find a Chinese citizen to act as an intermediary, then get them to open an account on their behalf.
It's also unclear the extent to which existing accounts could still be used or potentially forced to close.
Cut loose
But China seems concerned enough about the US threats.
When the BBC asked Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang about the blocking of North Korean bank accounts, he said: "I'm not aware of the details but we oppose unilateral sanctions, especially the imposing of the long arm of jurisdiction according to certain country's domestic law."
China might oppose the US throwing its weight around with "the long arm of jurisdiction" but it would prefer to cut lose some North Koreans than face economic turmoil at home and abroad.
According to the US government, that country's trade in goods and services with China last year totalled $648.2bn.
The big Chinese banks facilitate this trade. So you can't imagine Washington wanting to jeopardise it.
However - short of a full-scale sanctions - there might also be lesser measures available.
Yet even the bad publicity of any scandal involving its major financial institutions is not something China would welcome.
So Beijing will give up millions of dollars from North Korea if it means hanging on to hundreds of billions from the US.