China halts freight train traffic with North Korea

BEIJING (AP) — China says it halted railroad freight traffic with North Korea as it deals with the spread of COVID-19 in the border town of Dandong. The countries had reopened trade between Dandong and North Korea’s Sinuiju in January following a two-year pause while the North imposed restrictive pandemic border closures despite the strain on its broken economy. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday the decision to suspend railroad freight traffic was taken “in light of the current epidemic situation in Dandong,” but he gave no other details. China has been maintaining a “zero-COVID” approach, which requires mass testing and lockdowns and keeping its international borders largely shut.