As North Korea continues to deepen relations with Russia, Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong visited North Korea, and the two sides agreed to strengthen strategic cooperation and jointly safeguard core interests.
Scholars interviewed believe that China’s trip is aimed at understanding North Korea’s recent changes in foreign policy orientation and trying to ensure that Pyongyang does not break away from Beijing’s influence.
Sun Weidong visited Pyongyang, North Korea, on Friday (January 26), held consultations with North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Park Myung-ho, and called on North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui. According to news released by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that night, the two sides exchanged views on China-North Korea relations, international and regional situations and other issues of common interest.
The news pointed out that both sides spoke highly of the achievements of the development of relations between the two countries in recent years, and once again confirmed that maintaining, consolidating and developing China-North Korea relations is the unswerving position of the two parties and the two governments. The two sides agreed to strengthen strategic communication at all levels, deepen traditional friendship and pragmatic cooperation, and intensify multilateral coordination and cooperation to promote the continuous development of China-North Korea relations.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that the talks between officials from the two countries were held in a “friendly atmosphere” and the two sides agreed to continue to strengthen tactical coordination and interaction to safeguard common core interests.
Sun Weidong’s visit seems to be a return visit after Park Minghao’s visit to China in December last year.
Earlier this month, when Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un exchanged New Year’s greetings, the two sides took the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as an opportunity to announce that 2024 would be designated as the “China-North Korea Friendship Year” and launch a series of activities.
During this trip, Sun Weidong discussed the main activities arrangements with the North Korean side.
China is North Korea’s largest trading partner and traditional ally, and trade between the two countries has increased year by year in the past 10 years. However, there are increasing signs that North Korea is moving closer to Russia, which is deeply involved in the war.
Kim Jong-un had a rare meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Far East in September last year. This was his first foreign visit since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic. In recent months, North Korea has also been frequently accused of providing Russia with weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, With access to cutting-edge Russian military technology, the two countries also jointly produce weapons.
South Korea’s intelligence agency said North Korea successfully launched a military spy satellite with technical assistance from Russia in November last year.
Ryu Yongwook, assistant professor of East Asian international relations at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, pointed out in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that since the 1970s, North Korea has been implementing equidistant diplomacy between China and Russia to maximize Use your influence to get the best from both sides.
He said that from Beijing’s perspective, as Pyongyang moves closer to Moscow, it means that China’s influence on North Korea is weakening, and the purpose of China’s visit to North Korea at this time is to find out North Korea’s foreign policy orientation.
In the past few weeks, North Korea has increased its provocations against South Korea. In addition to frequent missile tests, it also proposed amending the constitution to define South Korea as the “number one enemy” and “eternal main enemy”, exacerbating tensions on the Korean peninsula.
China is working hard to recover from the epidemic. Liu Yongyu has judged that regional instability will inevitably bring more social and economic problems to China. Therefore, China may convey to North Korea its desire to ease the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
But he emphasized that China is currently in a difficult situation because if North Korea is pushed too hard, Pyongyang will accelerate its move toward Moscow. “The only thing Beijing can play is the carrot card. It needs to make the right concessions to Pyongyang and provide enough attractions to ensure that Pyongyang continues to move toward Beijing.”
Liu Yongyu also pointed out that North Korea has always hoped to reduce its dependence on Beijing and develop relations with other major powers, as it tried during the administration of former U.S. President Trump. He explained that excessive economic dependence can translate into political vulnerability and excessive intervention.
He said: “Among all regions and countries, North Korea is the country that understands this best, because they are most dependent on China. The current situation in Russia provides North Korea with an opportunity to reduce its dependence on China, and they seize it. But this is exactly what the Chinese government does not want to see.”
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2024-01-27 14:49:00
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