A leaked document reportedly showed China’s telecommunications company checking internet service for the five sites.
China is planning to build five camps that could accommodate thousands of North Korean refugees, The New York Times reported Monday.
According to The Times, a leaked document from state-run China Mobile that appeared on the microblogging site Weibo, said the telecommunications company was contacted to check for “viable internet service” at the five sites in the northeast border province of Jilin.
“Because the situation on the China-North Korea border has intensified lately, Changbai County government plans to set up five refugee sites in Changbai,” the document reportedly stated.
When questioned by The Times, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said they were not aware of reports about the refugee camps, but did not deny the plans to build them. Jilin has a large border with North Korea and is close to the nuclear-test site
North Korean defectors often escape to China because of the countries’ large shared border. Jilin province alone has a 200 kilometer (124 mile) border with North Korea and most of it is split by the narrow Tumen River, which is shallow enough to wade across in summer or walk on when frozen in winter.
