by Michael Rank
Chinese traders are using fake documents to export goods to North Korea, the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang warns on its website.
The terse, two-sentence statement dated April 4 gives no details of the forged “[North] Korea export licences” scam, but says the North Korean authorities have confirmed the documents are fake and urges “relevant companies not to be easily deceived.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang has a website at all, and a fairly active one at that. It has plenty of links, on Chinese-North Korean economic, cultural and educational ties, speeches by the ambassador and that sort of thing but not a lot of hard news or useful information.
There is no Chinese comment on the recent North Korean missile test, which is perhaps eloquent in itself, though there is a profile of the current ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, who spent much of the 1990s in the Chinese embassy in Washington (he was minister counsellor 1998-2001) and also in the North American section of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
There’s also a list of all Chinese ambassadors to the DPRK since 1950, with photographs and brief biographies.
The Chinese website is here and there’s even an English version though it hasn’t been updated since February.
Interesting — But, not unexpected — the Web site for the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang is hosted by ATT in Silver Spring MD.
RESULTS of WHO-IS query to the Public Interest Registry
Domain ID:D1075115-LROR
Domain Name:CHINA-EMBASSY.ORG
Created On:09-Feb-1996 05:00:00 UTC
Last Updated On:17-Feb-2005 16:06:12 UTC
Expiration Date:10-Feb-2010 05:00:00 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Network Solutions LLC (R63-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:19949497-NSI
Registrant Name:Chinese Embassy in the United States
Registrant Organization:Chinese Embassy in the United States
Registrant Street1:2300 connecticut Avenue, NW
Registrant Street2:Apt 407
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:washington
Registrant State/Province:DC
Registrant Postal Code:20008
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.2023282511
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:+1.2025880032
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:[email protected]
Admin ID:21037605-NSI
Admin Name:ATTI
Admin Organization:ATTI
Admin Street1:1738 Elton Road, Suite 121
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Silver Spring
Admin State/Province:MD
Admin Postal Code:20903
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.30144564
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:[email protected]
Tech ID:21037605-NSI
Tech Name:ATTI
Tech Organization:ATTI
Tech Street1:1738 Elton Road, Suite 121
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Silver Spring
Tech State/Province:MD
Tech Postal Code:20903
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.30144564
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:[email protected]
Name Server:NS.FMPRC.GOV.CN
Name Server:NS3.FMPRC.GOV.CN