China rejects US concern over North Korea

BEIJING: China welcomes all countries to participate in this weekend’s forum on China’s new Silk Road plan, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, after the United States warned China that North Korea’s attendance could affect other countries’ participation.

Two sources with knowledge of the situation said the US embassy in Beijing had submitted a diplomatic note to China’s foreign ministry, saying that inviting North Korea sent the wrong message at a time when the world was trying to pressure Pyongyang over its repeated missile and nuclear tests.

The spat over North Korea threatens to overshadow the summit, China’s most important diplomatic event of the year for an initiative championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Asked about the US note, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a short statement sent to Reuters that it did “not understand the situation”.

The statement added: “The Belt and Road initiative is an open and inclusive one. We welcome all countries delegations to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation”.

It said on Tuesday that North Korea would send a delegation to the summit but gave no other details.

China has not announced who North Korea’s chief delegate will be, but South Ko- rea’s Yonhap news agency said Kim Yong Jae, North Korea’s minister of external economic relations, will lead the delegation.

Leaders from 29 countries will attend the forum in Beijing on 14-15 May, an event orchestrated to promote Xi’s vision of expanding links between Asia, Africa and Europe underpinned by billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.

Some Western diplomats have expressed unease about both the summit and the plan as a whole, seeing it as an attempt to promote Chinese influence globally.

China has rejected criticism of the plan and the summit, saying the scheme is open to all.