US official: China using a loophole to buy coal from North Korea is 'unacceptable

WASHINGTON (AP)A senior US official says China's use of a loophole in UN sanctions to purchase huge amounts of North Korean coal is "unacceptable."Scott Busby, a senior State Department official for human rights, said Tuesday those coal sales are probably the North's main source of foreign currency.He said the department's second-ranking diplomat, Antony Blinken, will raise that issue when he meets this week with Chinese officials in Beijing.The US wants China to agree to tighter UN sanctions on North Korea in response to a Sept. 9 nuclear test explosion and enforce restrictions already in place.Busby credited China with a "slight improvement" in its treatment of North Korean asylum seekers. But he added that China is still repatriating significant numbers of them back to the North.SEE ALSO:GOP leaders in Congress want to vote on the Iran Sanctions Act as soon as NovemberJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: The US brought out the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan in a naval drill with South Korea
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