Xi, Kim share messages reaffirming China-North Korea alliance

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Xi, Kim share messages reaffirming China-North Korea alliance

6:50 CAT | 23 Mar 2021

FILE - In this June 21, 2019, file photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping stroll in the premises of Kumsusan guest house in Pyongyang, North Korea. [File photo: Korean Central News Agency / Korea News Service via AP ]

The leaders of China and North Korea are reaffirming their traditional alliance following contentious talks between top diplomats from Washington and Beijing and diplomatic isolation and economic problems in the North that have left it ever-more dependent on the Chinese.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday leader Kim Jong Un called for stronger “unity and cooperation” with China in the face of challenges posed by “hostile forces” while exchanging messages with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to KCNA and China’s Xinhua news agency, Xi in his own message to Kim described bilateral relations as a “valuable asset” to both countries and vowed to make unspecified contributions to the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

KCNA said Xi also expressed a commitment to “provide the peoples of the two countries with better life.” Some analysts saw this as an indication that China would soon provide North Korea with badly needed food, fertiliser and other aid that had been significantly reduced amid the pandemic border closures.

Xinhua said the leaders’ messages were exchanged during a meeting between Chinese senior diplomat Song Tao and North Korean Ambassador to China Ri Ryong Nam during a meeting in Beijing on Monday.

The exchange between the leaders came as the Biden administration steps up diplomatic efforts to strengthen cooperation with Asian allies South Korea and Japan to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat and China’s growing regional influence.

Top U.S. and Chinese officials traded sharp and unusually public barbs in Alaska last week in their first face-to-face meetings since President Joe Biden took office, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington is united with its allies in pushing back against Chinese authoritarianism.

The contentious talks in Anchorage came after Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Japan and South Korea for talks that mainly focused on North Korea and China.

During his visit to Seoul, Blinken sternly criticised North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and human rights record and pressed China to use its “tremendous influence” to convince the North to denuclearise.

The North has so far ignored Biden’s administration’s efforts to reach out, saying it won’t engage in meaningful talks with the United States unless Washington abandons what Pyongyang sees as “hostile” policies, which clearly refers to the U.S.-led sanctions and pressure over its nuclear program.

Source: AP