China backs N. Korea amid deadlocked nuclear talks
Team Udayavani, Sep 3, 2019, 1:38 PM IST
Seoul: China reasserted its backing for North Korea on Tuesday as its foreign minister visited Pyongyang, vowing to maintain “close communication” with its longstanding ally in the face of deadlocked nuclear talks with Washington.
Beijing has long been North Korea’s key diplomatic backer and main provider of trade and aid, and while ties deteriorated over Pyongyang’s nuclear provocations and China’s subsequent backing of UN sanctions, the two have since worked to repair their relationship.
Since March 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have met five times, with Xi seeking to weigh in on Pyongyang’s diplomacy with Washington.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi arrived in Pyongyang on a three-day trip on Monday, just two months after Xi became the first Chinese leader to visit the North in 14 years.
Wang told his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho that Beijing was ready “to promote… close communication and cooperation on the international stage”, China’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Reflecting on their 70 years of alliance, Wang noted that Beijing and Pyongyang have “always been in the same boat and moving forward side by side”, it said in a statement.
Ri said that North Korea is willing to work with China to “promote greater development” of their relations in the “new era”, according to the document.
Pyongyang and Washington are engaged in a long-running diplomatic process over the North’s nuclear programmes although little progress has been made.
Those talks have been deadlocked after a second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump collapsed in Hanoi in February with the two unable to reach a deal on sanctions relief and what the North might give up in return.
They agree to restart talks at an impromptu meeting in the Demilitarized Zone in June, but that working-level dialogue has yet to begin.
Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.
Top News
Related Articles More
Biden administration official backs reform of UN in response to Musk’s comments on permanent UNSC seat for India
Russia initiates withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from Karabakh as Azerbaijan takes full control of the region
Unprecedented rainfall in Dubai: Social media flooded with visuals of submerged airport & streets
Israel’s Defense Innovations: From Iron Dome to Arrow 3
Heavy rains set off flash floods killing 33 people in Afghanistan
MUST WATCH
Latest Additions
Remarks on Allopathy: SC asks Ramdev to implead complainants in his plea for stay of criminal probes
Thane man loses Rs 38 lakh in share-trading scam, case registered
Women voters outnumber men in all 5 Assam LS seats where voting is underway
Hubballi murder: Law and order in Karnataka heading towards Bihar, says Bommai
Udupi: Biker killed, pillion rider injured in fatal collision