Special envoy starts NK trip
Song to inform Pyongyang of 19th CPC National Congress
The special envoy of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping arrived in North Korea on Friday amid the ongoing nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
Song Tao, head of the CPC Central Committee’s International Department, is scheduled to inform North Korea of the 19th CPC National Congress and visit the country. He is the most senior Chinese official to visit Pyongyang in two years.
Song met with Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the Central Committee of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, shortly after his arrival in Pyongyang, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported.
South Korea’s Yonghap News Agency reported that a Chinese delegation of around five members was spotted at an airport in Beijing. North Korea’s ambassador to Beijing, Ji Jae-ryong, reportedly saw him off.
Yonhap also quoted sources as saying that Song may make a four-day visit to the North, during which he might meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
However, a source close to the matter told the Global Times on Friday that it is still possible for Song’s itinerary to change, and the length of his trip remains unconfirmed.
Song’s trip comes after US President Donald Trump’s two-day visit to China starting November 8. President Xi also met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week on the sidelines of the APEC in Da Nang, Vietnam.
“North Korea’s nuclear program is not on Song’s official agenda but it is the one issue that attracts attention from both China and North Korea,” Zheng Jiyong, director of Shanghai-based Fudan University’s Center for Korean Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.
“It is very likely that both the US and North Korea may wish to use this opportunity to convey their views through China,” Zheng said.
No breakthrough
It is customary for the CPC to send a special envoy to North Korea after its Party congress.
After the 17th CPC National Congress ended in 2007, then head of CPC Central Committee’s Publicity Department, Liu Yunshan, visited Pyongyang and met with North Korea’s late top leader Kim Jong-il. In 2012, after the conclusion of the 18th CPC National Congress, Li Jianguo, then vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, visited North Korea and was greeted by the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
Analysts said it is unlikely that any major breakthrough would come out of Song’s trip.
“The fact is China-North Korea ties are at a low. The two countries, as well as the two parties, have not had high-level exchanges for quite a long time and the biggest divergence of opinion is over North Korea’s nuclear program. So far, there has been no sign that the two parties had reached a consensus,” Lü Chao, a researcher with the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.
North Korea has refrained from conducting more tests for almost two months, which has given the outside world some confidence in the issues.
“China’s primary goal is to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from further deteriorating and to stabilize Sino-North Korean relations. We need to show the world that Sino-North Korean ties are neither too bad nor good, as the outside world expects,” said Zheng of Fudan University.
“It is impractical to expect Pyongyang to make a substantial shift on the nuclear issue. One meeting cannot resolve all the problems that had been accumulating for years. However, better Sino-North Korea relations would provide greater room for diplomacy,” Zheng noted.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Friday that during Song’s visit, China and North Korea would exchange views on bilateral and party-to-party relations, as well as other topics of common concern.
Geng said Thursday that sending delegations after Party congresses is a CPC tradition with parties in socialist countries.
“Developing cooperation between China and North Korea is in line with both sides’ interests and conducive to regional stability,” he said.