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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank, a Chinese company and two Chinese citizens in an effort to crack down on North Korea’s financing and development of weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions follow the death of Otto F. Warmbier, an American student who was imprisoned by North Korea, and come as frustration grows in the United States government over the North’s missile tests. The most significant action is directed at the Bank of Dandong, a Chinese lender that Treasury officials say acts as a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity and money laundering. The department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is moving to sever the bank from the American financial system, which would severely limit its ability to work with other banks around the world. “We will follow the money and cut off the money,” Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said Thursday during a briefing at the White House. Michael S. Casey, an American sanctions expert at the law firm Ropes & Gray, said, “This is a severe penalty in light of the central role that the U.S. financial system plays in the world’s economy.” Mr. Mnuchin would not say if the United States had warned China about the sanctions, but he said they were not meant as any sort of message to the Chinese government. “The Department of the Treasury is committed to protecting the U.S. financial system from North Korean abuse and maximizing pressure on the government of No... Link to the full article to read more