China sends message of hope to North Korea
▶ Xi says efforts must be made by both parties to last week’s Singapore summit to work towards peace
Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean leader Kim Jong-un yesterday that he hoped Pyongyang and Washington could fully implement the outcome of last week’s nuclear summit where Mr Kim pledged to work towards denuclearisation.
State broadcaster CCTV said Mr Xi told Mr Kim that through the “concerted efforts of the relevant countries” negotiations regarding issues on the Korean Peninsula were back on track and the situation was moving towards peace and stability.
The summit between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore marked an “important step towards the political solution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue”, Mr Xi said in Beijing.
China hopes North Korea and the US can “implement well the outcomes achieved at the summit”, Mr Xi said. China would “as always play a constructive role” in that process.
A statement signed by Mr Kim and Mr Trump offered vague commitments to denuclearisation and security, and the US leader agreed to suspend military exercises with South Korea in what was seen as a major win for North Korea and its chief allies, China and Russia.
Mr Kim’s two-day visit to China, which began yesterday, had not been announced in advance but was expected as part of the Communist neighbours’ tradition to report to each other on major developments.
The visit is Mr Kim’s third to China since March, highlighting China’s crucial role in efforts by the US and others to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.
The visit comes as ties between Beijing and Washington are being tested by a major trade dispute.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency announced the North Korean leader’s visit shortly after he landed yesterday.
On Mr Kim’s first visit to China as leader, he took an armoured train as his father Kim Jong-il had. His first two trips were not announced until after he had returned to North Korea.
Mr Xi “is exerting a lot of influence from behind the scenes”, said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“I expect they will talk about the path ahead and where priorities should lie,” Ms Glaser said.
Those priorities, from China’s perspective, would be to ensure that Beijing is included in any peace treaty talks and in creating an environment on the Korean Peninsula that will make it unnecessary for US troops to remain.
Mr Kim is probably hoping to get China’s support for relief from UN sanctions.
At a regularly scheduled briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said yesterday that Beijing supported Russia’s calls last week for unilateral sanctions on North Korea – those not imposed within the UN framework – to be cancelled immediately.
“China always stands against the so-called unilateral sanctions outside the Security Council framework. This position is very clear and we believe sanctions themselves are not the end,” Mr Geng said.
While Beijing and Moscow have supported UN restrictions, they bristle at Washington imposing sanctions on its own to pressure North Korea.