Chinese seafood companies are protesting over the Chinese government’s decision to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korean seafood imports.
Soon after the government announced it was cutting off imports of North Korean seafood and other goods, dozens of seafood company employees protested in the streets of Hunchun, home to hundreds of seafood processing businesses, the Sacramento Bee reported.
"I have more than 30 workers and I asked them to all go home or find other jobs," said Song Min, owner of a fresh seafood business in Hunchun, who was not involved in the protests. "But they cannot find other jobs. Everyone here is in the seafood industry.”
The protesters said the decision to enforce the sanctions would hobble the economy of the entire city.
Hunchun authorities warned seafood traders not to make trouble or they would risk being detained. “People who attended the meeting said the authorities were being very tough about this; no goods are allowed to get into China," said Yang Jian, a seafood trader, the newspaper reported.
Chinese officials originally said the imports of North Korean seafood, coal, iron and lead ores would stop on 5 September, but protests erupted after Chinese customs officials began stopping trucks full of seafood from North Korea on Tuesday, 15 August.
