China: N Korea will denuclearise
BEIJING: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged his commitment to denuclearisation during his secretive visit to China, which is expected to bolster Pyongyang’s position ahead of a summit between the reclusive leader and US President Donald Trump.
Kim received a warm welcome in his first trip abroad since taking power in 2011, holding talks with President Xi Jinping and meeting a host of dignitaries. Xi told Kim that China has made a “strategic choice” to have friendly ties with North Korea, and they would “remain unchanged under any circumstances”.
The meeting between Xi and Kim, confirmed by the Chinese and North Korean state media on Wednesday, ended a period of frosty ties and growing estrangement between the Cold War allies. China has backed increasingly tough economic sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests.
China’s foreign ministry cited Kim in a lengthy statement as telling Xi the situation on the Korean peninsula was starting to improve because North Korea has taken the initiative to ease tensions and put forward proposals for talks.
“It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearisation on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il Sung and late General Secre- tary Kim Jong Il,” Kim said.
North Korea is willing to talk with the US and hold a summit between the two countries, he added.
For Xi, the meeting with a longtroublesome neighbour ensures Beijing will not be left out of any deal struck by the US and North and South Korea, experts said.
The thaw ensures that China’s interests are protected during Kim’s planned summit with Trump in May, and also gives North Korea an insurance policy if talks collapse. While the White House said the Kim-xi summit showed its pressure campaign was working, closer China ties will help North Korea undermine sanctions and raise the cost of any US military action even further.
Kim’s talks with Xi strengthened North Korea’s negotiating position by aligning the two sides ahead of the Kim-trump meeting, said Wang Peng, a North Korea expert at the Charhar Institute in Beijing.
Analysts said North Korea has been hurt by UN sanctions and would need Beijing’s support for any softening of trade restrictions. China wants to show its importance as a partner to North Korea and ease worries about being sidelined in negotiations between the Koreas and the US.
But for Kim, fully giving up nuclear weapons would mean a dramatic reversal for a leader who has staked his security on his nuclear arsenal and projected such weapons as an integral part of his regime’s power.