Robust China-N.Korea ties instill positive energy to region
Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, visited China from June 19 to 20. It’s his third visit to China in the past three months and has garnered worldwide attention.
Instead of publicizing information after Kim leaves, per usual, the Chinese government released information about his visit and his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his stay. The change is noticed and has been regarded as a sign of the North Korean leader’s greater transparency on foreign affairs.
Kim’s visit took place just one week after the US-North Korea summit in Singapore and amid a simmering China-US trade war.
The Korean Peninsula issue was at the top of the agenda during the XiKim meeting. Since Kim paid his first visit to China in March, the peninsula situation has gained a momentum of steady development. Beijing has been making constructive efforts to promote denuclearization and lasting peace on the peninsula.
Some people attempted to figure out the special meaning of Kim’s China visit at a time of an escalating China-US trade tensions. Kim’s three China visits indicate that ChinaNorth Korea relations have recovered and developed well. Outside parties should support this development rather than overly interpret it.
As two sovereign states, China and North Korea have the right to develop friendly relations. Facts have proven that since the outbreak of the North Korean nuclear crisis in the 1990s, stable Sino-North Korean relations have played a positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability. Beijing has never used its relationship with Pyongyang to undermine the stability of the peninsula.
Some Chinese scholars hold that the China-North Korea relationship could develop into a new strategic partnership if the two make an effort to strengthen bilateral ties in the future. Such a strategic partnership would play a constructive role in the region.
North Korea’s desire for peaceful development, to ease relations with other countries and build a new international environment has presented an opportunity for Sino-North Korean cooperation.
Opening up is an inevitability if a country wants to develop. China will be a reliable strategic partner capable of supporting North Korea’s political security during its course of opening up.
China stresses principles and honors commitments. It never targets any third parties in its relations with others, nor does it pursue sphere of influence.
Countries which have diplomatic relations with China are all politically independent. None has been regarded as a geopolitical tool.
In short, development of ChinaNorth Korea relations has shown robust momentum and a bright future. It’s hoped that the outside world will positively respond to the two countries’ bilateral relations.