Chinese President Xi Jinping promises to play ‘positive’ role in helping North Korea denuclearise
- Chinese leader tells Kim Jong-un he is ready to assist peace talks and help North meet its needs at start of two-day state visit to Pyongyang
- Kim avoids naming Donald Trump directly, but blames the ‘relevant parties’ for not responding to his overtures
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised on Thursday to help North Korea satisfy its “security and development needs” and play a “positive and constructive role” in denuclearising the Korean peninsula.
In his reply, and without naming the United States or Donald Trump directly, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un promised that North Korea would remain patient even though unnamed “parties” had “failed to respond positively” to his overtures.
The visit by Xi, which came just a week ahead of his highly anticipated meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan, was closely watched for clues about whether China would help advance the denuclearisation talks that have stalled since the Hanoi summit between Kim and the US president collapsed in February.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that Xi had told Kim: “China is ready within its capacity to help the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea address its legitimate security and development concerns, strengthen coordination with it and other relevant parties, and play a positive and constructive role in realising denuclearisation on the peninsula and achieving enduring peace and stability in the region.”
The inability to effectively deal with North Korea undermines US credibility and influence in Asia, and this benefits China
Kim responded by saying: “Over the past year or so, the DPRK has taken many positive measures to prevent tension and control the situation on the peninsula, but it has not received a positive response from relevant parties. This is what the DPRK does not want to see.