Xi’s envoy to visit N.Korea

Experts say nuclear issue might be discussed

A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is scheduled to visit North Korea on Friday to inform Pyongyang about the 19th CPC National Congress, which experts believe will be a party-to-party exchange between the two countries, but they did not rule out talks on the Korean nuclear issue.

Song Tao, head of the CPC Central Committee’s international department, will visit North Korea on Friday as the special envoy of General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping, the Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

The special envoy’s primary purpose is to brief North Korea’s Workers’ Party about the 19th CPC National Congress, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily press conference on Wednesday.

“To carry out mutual briefings after the national congress of political parties has been a standard practice for years between the CPC and North Korea’s Workers’ Party, as well as with political parties of socialist countries. So it’s normal,” Geng said when asked whether the trip was related to US President Donald Trump’s recent trip to China.

The two sides will also exchange views on relations between the two parties and countries, as well as on other issues of mutual concern, Geng said.

“The biggest divergence in partyto-party relations between China and North Korea is the nuclear issue, and we hope that this visit could narrow the divergence by reaching some consensus such as having dialogues on the dual-track approach,” Lü Chao, a researcher on North Korea at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

“North Korea has received unprecedented pressure and may expect Song’s visit to improve relations with China as well as help them get out of trouble, and the two sides may consider resuming the dialogue mechanism on the issue,” said Jin Qiangyi, director of Yanbian University’s Asia Research Center.

The visit is also part of China’s decision to send envoys to foreign countries to elaborate on the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress. Song completed a similar visit to Vietnam and Laos earlier this month.

Over 30 groups of envoys are set to be sent to five continents from November to early next year to discuss the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress with foreign political parties, political organizations, think tanks and media, an official surnamed Li from the International Department of the CPC Central Committee told the Global Times.

China may elaborate on the policies toward neighboring countries as mentioned in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress to help North Korea better understand China’s diplomacy, experts said.