美国财政部称朝鲜为头号洗钱机构

ns if they do business with North Korea.

这一新动作出现在朝鲜一系列导弹发射试验和核试验之后，它或许意味着任何与美国金融体系有联系的银行，如果与朝鲜有业务往来就可能面临制裁。

Coming days ahead of a US-China summit in Beijing which will be attended by Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary, the announcement could put additional pressure on Chinese banks to cut ties with North Korea.

这一声明发布几天之后，美国财政部长杰克•卢(Jack Lew)将参加在北京召开的美中峰会。该声明的发布，可能会为中国各银行施加额外压力，切断与朝鲜的联系。

In a statement, the Treasury department said that North Korea used state-owned banks to conduct International transactions that financed its nuclear and missile programmes.

美国财政部在一份声明中表示，朝鲜用国有银行在国际上开展交易，为其核武器和导弹计划提供资金。

“Today’s action is a further step toward severing banking relationships with North Korea,” said Adam Szubin, acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “It is essential that we all take action to prevent the regime from abusing financial institutions around the world — through their own accounts or other means.”

负责反恐和金融情报的代理副部长亚当•舒宾(Adam Szubin)表示：“今日的做法是切断银行业与朝鲜联系的进一步举措。我们很有必要一同采取措施，阻止朝鲜当局通过自身户头或其他手段，不当使用全球的金融机构。”

US banks are already banned from doing business with North Korea. Under the new provision, banks in third countries that have a link to the US financial system would be prevented from processing transactions for North Korea. In practice, US officials and analysts say, this largely means financial institutions in China.

美国各银行已经被禁止与朝鲜开展业务。根据新的规定，与美国金融体系有联系的第三国银行或被阻止与朝鲜开展交易。美国官方及分析人士表示，实际上，这在很大程度上是指中国的金融机构。

“This action is the equivalent of the ‘nuclear option’ in the world of financial sanctions,” said Victor Cha, a former White House official and Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said that if international banks did not want to be barred from the US financial system, they would have to “cut off their transactions not only with North Korean financial institutions but with any other financial institutions, such as those in China, that are suspected of transacting with North Korea”.

曾任白宫官员的美国战略与国际研究中心(CSIS)韩国问题专家车维德(Victor Cha)表示：“此举相当于金融交易领域的‘核武器选项’。”他说，如果国际银行不想被封锁在美国金融体系之外，就必须“切断相关交易，这些交易的对象不仅包括朝鲜金融机构，还包括任何其他涉嫌与朝鲜开展交易的金融机构——比如中国的金融机构。”

The announcement comes a day after North Korea attempted to launch an intermediate-range ballistic missile — a test that South Korea said had been a failure.

就在该声明公布一天前，朝鲜曾试图发射一枚中程弹道导弹——韩国方面表示这一实验没有成功。

The meeting between senior US and Chinese officials is for the annual strategic and economic dialogue session. Danny Russel, US assistant secretary of state, said that North Korea would be one of the top items on the agenda and that China had said it would fully implement international sanctions on Pyongyang.

美中高官之间的会晤，是为了开展一年一度的战略与经济对话。美国助理国务卿丹尼•罗素(Danny Russel)表示，朝鲜问题或将是会议议程中的首要论题之一。他还表示，中国方面曾表示会全面实施对朝鲜政府的国际制裁。

“One of the things that we will and do talk about is the practical question of how to ensure that the pressure that is built on an international basis on North Korea culminates in the outcomes that we want, which is not to bring North Korea to its knees, but to its senses,” he said.

他说：“我们将会、而且肯定会谈到的事情之一，是一个实际操作上的问题：如何确保在国际范围对朝鲜施加的压力，最终会得到我们想要的结果，这一结果并不是要让朝鲜下跪屈服，而是让朝鲜回归理性。”