In the North Korean capital this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to discuss the proposed “quadrilateral” peace talks [PPIO]Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in North Korea for a two-day trip beginning Wednesday, the latest in a series of diplomatic power plays in Asia.
Wang will hold talks with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho during a visit aimed at serving as preparation for Pyongyang’s upcoming summit with the United States.
China’s Foreign Minister is in the country after the historic summit between North and South Korean leaders Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in earlier last week.
They agreed to halt all hostile acts and move toward formally ending the Korean war later this year. They also pledged to work toward |complete denuclearization|, improve bilateral relations and turning the demilitarized zone into a peace zone.
The “peace declaration” signed by Kim and his South Korean counterpart on Friday refers to quadrilateral meetings involving the two Koreas, China and the United States.
China welcomed the apparent rapprochement between the two Koreas and said it hoped for a political resolution of the recent crisis.
Kim and US President Donald Trump are slated to meet in a few weeks.
During the North Korean President’s visit to China in March this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping had promised China would uphold friendship with its isolated neighbour.
The March visit to Beijing was Kim’s first known trip outside North Korea since he assumed power in 2011.
US President Donald Trump on Monday hinted at the border between North and South Korea as the site for his proposed meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“There’s something that I like about it because you’re there, you’re actually there. Where, if things work out, there’s a great celebration to be had on the site not in a third-party country,” Trump told reporters in Washington.
Both North Korea and the US have used belligerent rhetoric against each other for years even as Pyongyang battled sanctions for its nuclear and rocket tests.
US President Donald Trump had earlier called North Korean leader Kim a “sick puppy” and “little rocket man”.
Meanwhile, in the North Korean capital this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to discuss the proposed “quadrilateral” peace talks.
Wang is also likely to discuss the US deployment of the advanced THAAD missile defense system in the Korean peninsula.
Washington and Seoul had, while deploying the THAAD, that the missile shield would be focused solely on North Korea. Beijing has repeatedly argued that the US weapons deployment in South Korea would pose considerable threat to neighboring countries.
“Once deployed, the system would pose a direct threat to the strategic security of China and Russia,” Foreign Minister Wang has said previously.
China is also opposed to joint military exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan in the region.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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