SEOUL, July 16 (Reuters) – China’s fourth-highest-ranked official, Wang Huning, held talks in Pyongyang with a top official of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.
The meeting is the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between Beijing and Pyongyang following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea in June — the first in seven years — and reflects China’s efforts to reinforce its influence over its traditional ally amid North Korea’s deepening ties with Russia.
The Chinese delegation led by Wang arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, at the invitation of North Korea, and met Jo Yong Won, a top official of the Workers’ Party, KCNA reported.
At the meeting, Wang affirmed “the will of the Chinese party and the government” to implement the agreement reached between Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Xi’s visit to Pyongyang last month, KCNA said.
Xi and Kim agreed to expand cooperation in politics, economy and culture as well as strategic communication through visits by high-level officials, KCNA said at the time.
Kim also told Xi that he would fully support the “One China principle,” which Beijing views as meaning that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one country.
Taiwan strongly objects to Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only its people can decide the island’s future.
In their meeting, Wang also referred to the 65th anniversary of friendship ties between the two countries, while Jo told Wang that North Korea seeks to develop strategic communication and tactical cooperation with Beijing, KCNA reported.
The two officials discussed ways to improve public welfare and to deepen mutual cooperation in business, culture and between the two countries’ ruling parties, KCNA said, without elaborating.
Earlier this month, North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song met with Xi in Beijing during his visit for an event marking the 65th anniversary of the neighbours’ friendship treaty.
Xi urged the two allies to maintain “strategic resolve” amid a volatile global environment and to speed up implementation of agreements he reached with Kim.
The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, signed on July 11, 1961, remains China’s only active mutual defence pact.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the flurry of high-level exchanges reflected shared interests in strengthening ties between the neighbours.
“North Korea wants to secure China’s vast economic and geopolitical backing, while China seeks to maintain its influence on the Korean Peninsula and avoid losing the initiative in Northeast Asian affairs,” he said.
(Reporting by Heejin Kim in Seoul; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Michael Perry)
Comments