Sincerity is needed as warmer ties emerge in spring

Kim Jong-un’s visit to Beijing last week for talks with President Xi Jinping has raised hopes that the planned upcoming series of meetings will produce meaningful outcomes, but there is also fear that a stronger Beijing-Pyongyang alliance may complicate matters. Positive progress

THE fruitful results of the meeting between China President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have been widely recognised by the international community, with UN secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres welcoming the meeting, and Donald Trump saying in a tweet that he had been informed by Xi that the meeting with Kim “went very well” and that Kim looked forward to meeting the US president.

A meeting between the two leaders is reportedly in the works for sometime in May. After Kim concluded his visit to Beijing, officials confirmed on Thursday that a meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim is to be held on April 27 in the border truce village of Panmunjom. And Japan has reportedly also sounded out North Korea about a bilateral summit.

Such meetings were inconceivable just a few months ago.

Needless to say, Beijing has been playing its part in realising and sustaining the positive momentum, as Xi’s invitation to Kim shows.

But the welcome conciliation that has been achieved must now be nurtured. At this critical juncture, all the parties concerned should refrain from doing or saying anything that may shatter what is likely a fragile détente, given the suspicions and mistrust that have prevailed in the past. These will need to be assuaged if the opportunities presented by dialogue are to yield anything of substance.

That will require all concerned to show political wisdom, diplomatic flexibility and strategic patience, since the complex knot of history will not be easily unraveled.

The stakes could not be higher, and the future will not judge kindly those who are insincere in their efforts to secure a resolution.

Those involved should also bear in mind that previously wasted opportunities led to the confrontational impasse from which all now hope to emerge unscathed.

It is our hope that the seeds of reconciliation that have been sown can be tended and bear fruit.

China is willing to join hands with all parties to make such a prospect come true, and it hopes joint efforts will be made by all to nourish the tender buds of friendlier relations that have emerged this spring. — China Daily

Uncertain path

AS the specifics of the Xi Jinping-Kim Jong-un meeting are not yet known, its effect on the North Korean nuclear issue down the road is hard to predict, but there is a high possibility that it will complicate the matter of denuclearising the North.

Through his first foreign trip since he took office in 2011, Kim seems to be seeking to mend longfrayed ties with China, North Korea’s key economic benefactor.

There are few reasons to oppose their efforts to improve their ties. It can be viewed as a positive signal if they serve the goal of denuclearising the North.

As the security situation related to the North’s nukes turned critical lately, with summits between South and North Korea and between the United States and North Korea expected in April and May, respectively, Pyongyang and Beijing probably felt acutely the need to close ranks.

The issue is what they might be seeking to achieve through their efforts to get closer.

There is a good chance that Xi and Kim may have discussed sanctions against the North.

It is also likely that Kim asked Xi to work toward moderating them.

One cannot exclude entirely the possibility that China, the North’s sole ally, will seek ways to accommodate the North’s demands.

If Kim’s overture for dialogue leads to China breaking from the international front of sanctions and China and the North getting back to the solid alliance of the past, the efforts to denuclearise North Korea will come to nothing.

China needs to be reminded of the importance of maintaining sanctions until the North’s complete and irreversible denuclearisation.

Beijing should know that the problem of North Korean nuclear armament will be further complicated if it seeks to use the issue as leverage for a hegemonic influence over the United States on an array of issues, including trade.

The US-led sanctions have begun to work in bringing Pyongyang to dialogue. Indisputably, China has played an indispensable role in sanctioning the North, which has eventually shown signs of change, such as a proposal for summits.

To Pyongyang, the prospect of gaining many concessions from the United States through negotiations likely dimmed after Trump nominated hawkish figures such as CIA director Mike Pompeo and former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton as secretary of state and national security adviser, respectively. This may have caused North Korea to turn to China as a “safety valve” in case its summit with the United States goes awry.

It is hard to imagine a process of denuclearising North Korea without China being involved. But if Beijing rushes to restore diplomatic, security and economic assistance to the North for the sake of their alliance or its regional hegemony, the process will likely go up in smoke.

In this context, the Kim-Xi summit arouses concern of a confrontation between South Korea, the United States and Japan on one side and North Korea, China and Russia on the other.

It will be beneficial to all countries concerned to avoid such confrontation. China needs do more to persuade Pyongyang to scrap its nukes for peace on the peninsula.

Now is not the time to tamp down the dialogue momentum, but to hold fast to the principle of maximum sanctions until the North denuclearises.