Evidence of strained ties on China-North Korea border

Evidence of strained ties on China-North Korea border

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In the Northeast Asia Special Region straddling China's border with North Korea, the area around Nanping village is dotted with half-finished buildings, cranes on empty lots, piles of concrete pipes and a few construction workers.

What was planned in 2011 as a 30 billion yuan ($4.36 billion) development intended to showcase economic engagement between the two countries has stalled in recent months. No reasons have been given and no announcements have been made in official media.

. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
A woman exercises near the banks of the Yalu River.

About 700 km (430 miles) to the south, near the city of Dandong, the New Yalu River Bridge connecting the two countries lies unfinished. It was planned in 2010 at a cost of 2.2 billion yuan, but stands now as a monument to the slowdown in economic ties.

A Reuters team visiting the area saw some signs of trade - trucks coming across another bridge over the Yalu and boats being loaded with goods on the North Korean side of the river.

. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
Workers stand on pile of goods at a port near the North Korean town of Sinuiju.

Beijing appears sensitive about the North Korea issue – a Reuters journalist who visited the Northeast Asia Special Region near China's city of Helong last week was escorted out by police.

"Right now tensions are so high between China and North Korea that even this economic zone is a sensitive topic," local official Wang Fusheng said.

The Helong local government declined further comment.

. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
The sun rises through fog over the Friendship and the Broken bridges over the Yalu River connecting the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in China.

China's relations with North Korea are expected to be high on the agenda when Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump hold their first summit meeting this week. Washington wants China to do more to rein in the unpredictable North's nuclear and missile programs, while Beijing has said it does not have that kind of influence.

Trump raised the pressure on Sunday, holding out the possibility of using trade as a lever to secure Chinese cooperation.

China has taken steps to increase economic pressure on Pyongyang but has long been unwilling to do anything that may destabilise the North and send millions of refugees across their border.

The slowdown in the economic relationship between the two countries became marked after North Korea's fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and a series of missile launches since then.

The original development plan for the Northeast Asia Special Region was to link Helong with North Korea's Maofeng International Tourism Zone and its port city of Chongjin in an area that would feature golf courses, blueberry fields, horse riding, logistics hubs and trade in everything from timber to textiles.

. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
Tourists travel on a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea.

The region was intended to connect China and North Korea via air, road and freight train routes, according to information on billboards in China's Nanping village, where North Korea is just across the winding Tumen River.

The ultimate aim was to export products from both countries through Chongjin to Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe - an aspiration thwarted by tightening global sanctions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
A girl stands on a ferry on the North Korean side of the Yalu River.

Nanping village itself was to be demolished and turned into the Helong Frontier Economic Cooperation Zone - a key part of the Northeast Asia Special Region.

The zone will "take advantage of North Korean labour, land, environment and resources," one of the signs in Nanping states, displaying pictures of seafood processing and light manufacturing of clothes, clocks and car parts.

One thousand North Korean workers were supposed to have started work last year, a number set to increase to 10,000 this year and 20,000 next year.

. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
Men rest on the North Korean side of the Yalu River.

But the dormitories for the workers are half-completed and the economic zone hasn't opened.

"Those signboards are more a hopeful plan than a schedule we strictly follow. No one has moved in yet," said the manager of one of the construction sites, who gave his family name as Li.

According to signboards in Nanping, there were plans for 900 million yuan worth of infrastructure investment in the area, including a 10-km (6-mile) train track connecting Nanping and nearby Luguo village to North Korea's Musan mine, which has the largest-known iron ore reserves in the country.

. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
North Korean soldiers patrol behind a border fence.

Villagers on the Chinese side of the border are wary of North Korea.

In 2014, in two separate incidents, at least seven villagers were killed by North Koreans sneaking across the porous border into Nanping, the latest in several such incidents over the past few years.

China's military presence is heavy, with khaki green four-wheel drive vehicles patrolling the highways and security cameras installed on border fences. Locals say defections by North Koreans are down amid tighter Chinese patrols.

However, recent flooding around Nanping has destroyed alarm systems installed by the local government to protect villagers against North Korean intruders and also much of the fencing separating the village from North Korea.

. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj
A North Korean soldier sits on a bank of the Yalu River.

North Korea is clearly visible from Nanping - farmers using rudimentary ploughs, soldiers squatting by a simple outpost and antiquated trucks and buses sporadically rumbling by.

Timber and other materials come in by truck from North Korea to Nanping over a concrete bridge, say locals, who added that coal exports have stopped since China's outright ban in February, following the North's nuclear and intermediate-range ballistic missile tests.

Iron ore from Musan has also stopped coming in, said Li Zhonglin, Director of the College of Economics and Management at Yanbian University.

"Right now, all economic projects along the border have stalled because of rising tensions," he said.

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Slideshow

The North Korean side of the Yalu River and the Broken Bridge, bombed by U.S. forces in the Korean War and now a tourist site, are seen from a hotel room in Dandong.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

The North Korean side of the Yalu River and the Broken Bridge, bombed by U.S. forces in the Korean War and now a tourist site, are seen from a hotel room in Dandong.

A man pauses at the banks of the Yalu River across from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, in Dandong.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A man pauses at the banks of the Yalu River across from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, in Dandong.

A man carrying fishing net wades through shallow waters of the Yalu River between China and North Korea, near Dandong.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A man carrying fishing net wades through shallow waters of the Yalu River between China and North Korea, near Dandong.

People gather around a fortune teller in front of the Broken and Friendship bridges across the Yalu River in Dandong.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

People gather around a fortune teller in front of the Broken and Friendship bridges across the Yalu River in Dandong.

Lights are turned on on the Friendship and the Broken bridges over the Yalu River.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Lights are turned on on the Friendship and the Broken bridges over the Yalu River.

A souvenir vendor takes a nap in front of barbed wire marking the border between North Korea and China, just north of Dandong.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A souvenir vendor takes a nap in front of barbed wire marking the border between North Korea and China, just north of Dandong.

Tourists gather to watch North Korean side of the Yalu River from the Broken Bridge.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Tourists gather to watch North Korean side of the Yalu River from the Broken Bridge.

Tourists walk on the Broken Bridge.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Tourists walk on the Broken Bridge.

A man sits between binoculars he offers to tourists to watch the North Korean side of the Yalu River from the Broken Bridge.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A man sits between binoculars he offers to tourists to watch the North Korean side of the Yalu River from the Broken Bridge.

A couple gets ready for their wedding photo session on a boat that takes tourists from Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A couple gets ready for their wedding photo session on a boat that takes tourists from Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea.

Tourists look from a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Tourists look from a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea.

Tourists from the Chinese side of the Yalu River sail in front of a North Korean boat ferrying people along the river.
. Dandong, CHINA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Tourists from the Chinese side of the Yalu River sail in front of a North Korean boat ferrying people along the river.

North Korean soldiers react as a boat from the Chinese side sails along the Yalu River.
. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

North Korean soldiers react as a boat from the Chinese side sails along the Yalu River.

A man and boys enter the water on an ox-cart on the North Korean side of the Yalu River.
. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A man and boys enter the water on an ox-cart on the North Korean side of the Yalu River.

A North Korean soldier guards a gate on banks of the Yalu River, north of Sinuiju.
. Sinuiju, NORTH KOREA. Reuters/Damir Sagolj

A North Korean soldier guards a gate on banks of the Yalu River, north of Sinuiju.