日本稱中朝船隻在公海交易貨物

Japan says its military has witnessed a cargo transfer between China and North Korea on the high seas that it suspects violates United Nations economic sanctions on Pyongyang.

The foreign ministry said Tuesday a maritime surveillance plane and an escort ship spotted a North Korean-flagged tanker, identified as the Yu Jong 2, floating alongside a small ship last Friday about 250 kilometers off the Chinese city of Shanghai in the East China Sea.

The nationality of the other ship is unknown, but the ministry said the words "Min Ning De You 078" were written in Chinese on the ship's bow.

The ministry says it has reported the suspected transfer to the U.N. Security Council. This is the third such incident reported by Tokyo this year.

Pyongyang is subject to a series of U.N. Security Council sanctions over the regime's continued testing of its nuclear and ballistic missile weapons, including one prohibiting all member states from facilitating or engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of goods to or from North Korean-flagged vessels.日本說，它的自衛隊目擊中國和朝鮮在公海上交易貨物。日本懷疑，這個交易違反了聯合國對朝鮮的經濟制裁。

日本外務省星期二說，一架海上偵察機和一艘護衛船上星期五在上海以東大約250公里的東中國海上看到一艘懸掛朝鮮旗幟的（被確定爲Yu Jong 2號的）油輪和一艘小船並排停在一起。

小船的國籍不得而知，但是日本自衛隊說，小船的船舷上寫着：閩寧德油078。

日本外務省說，已經向聯合國安理會報告了這筆可疑的貨物交易。這是日本今年第三次做這樣的報告。

朝鮮一再測試核武器和彈道導彈之後，聯合國對朝鮮實施了一系列制裁，包括禁止所有成員國協助或從事與懸掛朝鮮國旗的船隻進行船與船之間的貨物交易。