New North Korea-China bridge finally opens. But will it help Pyongyang evade sanctions?

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Ultra-isolated North Korea has a new bridge to the outside world.

It’s a four-lane highway leading to close ally and main trade partner China, and its opening on Thursday marks the latest rapprochement with Beijing. Experts worry it may also make it easier for Pyongyang to evade sanctions over its illegal nuclear program.

The nearly two-mile New Yalu River Bridge links the Chinese border city of Dandong with North Korea’s Sinuiju. Construction was completed in 2014, but the bridge remained unused for years because connecting roads and border facilities on the North Korean side were unfinished.

Satellite imagery from earlier this month showed vehicles on the bridge connecting Dandong and Sinuiju, which are believed to account for about 70% of bilateral trade, and on Thursday an opening ceremony saw trucks decked out with national flags making the journey over the river.

The older Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, also located in Dandong and built in 1937, has traditionally served as the main crossing between the two countries. But with just one lane, it can accommodate traffic in only one direction at a time.

The long-delayed opening follows a period of improving relations between Beijing and Pyongyang, including the reopening of a railway connection in March and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang in June for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

That summit hinted at a restoration of ties between the two Communist states after they grew more distant in recent years as North Korea grew closer to Russia, analysts say.

The bridge offers an opportunity for China and North Korea to demonstrate the restoration of their relationship and their strategic alignment to the international community, Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University in South Korea told CNN.

China still accounts for about 95% of North Korea’s total official trade, and the South Korean government has reported 17 rail and vehicle links connecting China and North Korea, according to the AP.

Last month, North Korea inaugurated the first road bridge linking it to Russia.

Ahead of the opening, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said: the bridge “will further promote economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and enhance the well-being of their peoples.”

Some analysts worry that it will also help the world’s most-sanctioned country evade bans on exports of its raw materials and other goods.

Kyungnam University’s Lim said North Korea could use the crossing as a government-controlled gateway to circumvent UN sanctions.

And, to what China is willing to go along with that, is partly contingent on relations with the US, said Yang Mu-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul,

“As relations between Washington and Beijing have become strained, China tended to take a more passive approach to enforcing sanctions,” Yang said.

CNN’s Joyce Jiang contributed to this report.

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与世隔绝的朝鲜如今与外界建立了一座新桥梁。

这是一条通往紧密盟友和主要贸易伙伴中国的四车道高速公路，周四的开通标志着朝中关系的最新缓和。专家担心，这也可能使平壤更容易规避因其非法核计划而受到的制裁。

新鸭绿江大桥全长近两英里，连接中国边境城市丹东和朝鲜新义州。大桥于2014年竣工，但由于朝鲜一侧的连接道路和边境设施尚未完工，这座桥梁多年来一直处于闲置状态。

本月初的卫星图像显示，连接丹东和新义州的桥梁上有车辆通行，据信这两个城市占双边贸易的约 70%。周四的通车仪式上，装饰着国旗的卡车驶过河流。

位于丹东的中韩友谊大桥建于1937年，历史更为悠久，历来是两国之间的主要通道。但由于只有一条车道，因此一次只能允许一个方向的车辆通行。

在北京和平壤关系持续改善之后，这条通道终于在迟迟未能开放。此前，北京和平壤之间的关系在3月份重新开放，中国领导人习近平于6月份访问平壤，与朝鲜领导人金正恩举行峰会。

分析人士称，那次峰会暗示着这两个共产主义国家的关系有望恢复，此前随着朝鲜与俄罗斯的关系日益密切，两国关系近年来有所疏远。

韩国庆南大学朝鲜研究教授林乙哲告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN），这座桥梁为中国和朝鲜提供了一个向国际社会展示两国关系恢复和战略一致性的机会。

据美联社报道，中国仍然占朝鲜官方贸易总额的约 95%，韩国政府报告称，有 17 条铁路和公路连接中国和朝鲜。

上个月，朝鲜开通了连接朝鲜和俄罗斯的第一座公路大桥。

在桥梁开通前夕，中国外交部发言人表示，这座桥梁“将进一步促进两国经贸往来和人文交流，增进两国人民的福祉”。

一些分析人士担心，这也会帮助世界上受制裁最严重的国家规避对其原材料和其他商品出口的禁令。

庆南大学的林教授表示，朝鲜可能会利用该过境点作为政府控制的通道来规避联合国制裁。

首尔朝鲜大学教授杨慕镇表示，中国愿意接受的程度，部分取决于与美国的关系。

杨表示：“随着华盛顿和北京之间的关系变得紧张，中国在执行制裁方面倾向于采取更加被动的态度。”

CNN的Joyce Jiang对本报道亦有贡献。