The US Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a legislation that would impose hard-hitting sanctions on Kim Jong Un's government for its recent series of provocative actions.

The overwhelming vote is widely seen as an effort to force the international community to retaliate more aggressively against North Korea's rogue government, a move that China has consistently tried to avoid within its purview as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Like Us on Facebook

Republican lawmakers were quick to use the occasion to blast both China and US President Barrack Obama for failing to break an impasse in the UNSC, where competing interests have kept member states from punishing North Korea despite the collective sentiment that its latest moves are out of line.

"The President should list North Korea again as a state sponsor of terrorism," Republican senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz told the Washington Post on Wednesday.  "The President needs to pressure China to rein in North Korea and stop pretending China is a friend on this."

"Partners"

The Obama administration has attempted to direct its response to Pyongyang through the UNSC, but Beijing has lately been sending signals that it will not support any measures that would exacerbate an already taut situation along its borders with North Korea.

"When we have 'partners', quote-quote, on the UN Security Council that are unwilling to take steps, it means even more so that this body... has got to be proactive," said US Republican Senator Bob Corker said in an apparent reference to Beijing's reluctance to impose crippling sanctions on Kim Jong Un's government.

China has approached the possibility of sanctions against its neighbor with painstaking caution, largely out of a concern that destabilizing North Korea would only create chaos in the region.   Over the past years, a number of reports have suggested instances when starving North Korean soldiers crossed the border into China to steal food and money -- a scenario that no doubt weighs heavily on the minds of Chinese officials.

"We agreed that the UN Security Council needs to take further action and pass a resolution," said Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi last month when US state secretary John Kerry was in Beijing to discuss possible sanctions against Pyongyang. "In the meantime, we must point out that the new resolution should not provoke new tensions."

No Response

The US Senate's "North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act" seeks to punish anyone who engages in, facilitates or contributes to North Korea's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, arms-related materials, luxury goods, human rights abuses, activities undermining cyber security and provision of material for such activities.

Reuters reports that the penalties include seizure of assets, visa bans and denial of government contracts. 

The vote against North Korea was 96 to 0.

The US House of Representatives is said to have passed a similar bill last month.  Senate Democrats have told the press that differences between the two pieces of legislation will be quickly resolved, and they expect Obama to sign the bill into law.   

Curiously, the measure makes most of the sanctions mandatory, rather than giving Obama the option to impose them.  The White House can waive the measures, but only if it can successfully argue that they threaten national security.

The White House has not moved for a veto, and an administration spokesperson said Obama had no immediate response to the bill.  

TagsUS-China relations, China-North Korea relations, UN sanctions