Xi concludes North Korea visit, vows China’s ‘unwavering’ support to Kim

PTI Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday wrapped up his rare visit to North Korea, Beijing's strategically important neighbour, announcing that he reached an important consensus with its leader Kim Jong Un on developing relations between the two countries.

Soon after his arrival to a colourful red-carpet welcome in Pyongyang on Monday, Xi pledged China’s “unwavering” support to Kim, who in recent years deepened ties with Russia much to Beijing’s unease.

The two-day visit was his first trip to North Korea since 2019 and was also the first foreign visit by Xi this year.

There was no announcement about any concrete deals between the two strategic allies and the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday parried questions on any talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea, which has conducted multiple nuclear tests since 2006, publicly declares itself a nuclear-armed state but Beijing on its part opposes nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and supports denuclearisation.

Ahead of Xi’s visit, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, announced through state-run KCNA news agency that North Korea will never surrender its nuclear-armed status and continue to expand its atomic arsenal.

She also discounted reports that denuclearisation of the Peninsula figured in talks between Xi and US President Donald Trump during the American leader’s recent visit to Beijing.

Answering questions on the outcome of Xi's visit to North Korea, officially called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian hinted that there was no change in Beijing's stand on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

“China maintains continuity and consistency over its position and policy on the Korean Peninsula issue,” he said replying to a question on the denuclearisation.