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U.S. sanctions Taiwan firm, man for N. Korea arms trade

ROC Central News Agency

2013/05/11 20:24:19

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) The United States announced Friday it has imposed sanctions on a Taiwanese company and its chief executive for their roles in supplying arms-related equipment to North Korea.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Trans Multi Mechanics Co. and CEO Tony Chang Wen-Fu under laws aimed at freezing the assets of people designated as 'proliferators of weapons of mass destruction' and their supporters.

The sanctions ban Americans and U.S. institutions from doing any business with Chang or his company and freeze all of their assets under U.S. jurisdiction.

The Treasury Department said in a press release that two Taiwanese men, Alex Tsai Hsien-tai and his son, Tsai Yueh-hsun, have used Trans Multi Mechanics Co. Ltd. to procure and ship hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment to North Korea and to negotiate contracts on behalf of North Korean parties.

Chang 'has been actively involved in the procurement of dual-use military and civilian machinery for North Korea,' the department said in the statement.

'It is essential that we continue to make it as difficult as possible for North Korea to facilitate its nuclear and ballistic missile programs by exposing key cogs in North Korea's procurement network,' the statement cited David Cohen, treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, as saying.

'We will continue to work with our partners in federal law enforcement and our friends around the world to expose anyone assisting the North Korean government's illicit procurement activities,' Cohen added.

Alex Tsai and his son were recently arrested in Estonia and suburban Chicago in the United States, respectively, for allegedly violating U.S. laws that aim to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. They had allegedly shipped restricted arms-related materials to North Korea, the statement said.

Tsai Yueh-hsun's attorney said on May 6 during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Chicago that Tsai did not know the materials would be transported to North Korea.

Tsai Yueh-hsun, who holds shares in Trans Multi Mechanics and Global Interface Co. and operates the two companies, has been on the radar of U.S. officials since 2009 for allegedly shipping restricted materials to North Korea.

(By Liao Han-yuan and Y.L. Kao)
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