Ties between China and North Korea are at a “new historical starting point”, President Xi Jinping said on Monday in remarks published in the neighbour’s state media as he arrived in Pyongyang for a rare summit with leader Kim Jong Un.
China’s unwavering policy is to develop ties with the North and both will strengthen exchanges in all areas, Xi said in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper ahead of a visit seen as significant because it is his first international trip this year.
“We must oppose hegemony, authoritarianism and all attempts and conspiracies to revive militarism that endanger regional security and stability,” Xi added, as Beijing looks to draw Pyongyang closer.
Xi arrived in Pyongyang to a red-carpet welcome from Kim and wife Ri Sol Ju, alongside a guard of honour while children presented bouquets of flowers, Chinese state media showed.
A military band played both national anthems in a ceremony at the capital’s Kim Il Sung Square, the site of past military parades and state celebrations.
A 21-gun salute was fired as spectators dwarfed by huge portraits of the leaders chanted slogans and released colourful balloons, the official Xinhua news agency said.
XI SET TO HOLD TALKS WITH KIM
Xi is expected to hold talks with Kim on the two-day visit, his first in seven years to China’s reclusive neighbour at a time when its economy, strengthened by growing trade and military ties to Russia, could boost Kim’s confidence in talks.
“The Xi-Kim summit is a reminder that Beijing still sees Pyongyang as a strategic asset,” said Craig Singleton, a senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The neighbours, along with Russia and Iran, share an interest in blunting U.S. power and straining its alliances, he added.
Xi also pledged to work with North Korea to promote fair and orderly multilateralism and inclusive economic globalisation to benefit the world, adding that long-term regional peace and stability were the common pursuit of both nations.
“His visit is about keeping the tradition alive in very different conditions than his last trip,” John Delury, a senior fellow of the Asia Society, said in a post on X.
FLAGS LINE PYONGYANG AVENUES
Flags of both countries lined the main avenues of the North Korean capital in a video issued by Xinhua.
Xi is accompanied on the state visit by wife Peng Liyuan, de facto chief of staff Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He hosted Kim and other leaders last year at a massive military parade in Beijing, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since then Pyongyang has resumed crossings at the Chinese border and stepped up exchanges frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Air China restored flights between the capitals in March.
“The sustainability of improved North Korea-Russia and increasing North Korea-China relations may influence just how long Kim can continue to ignore Washington and Seoul,” said Sydney Seiler, of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
On the eve of Xi’s arrival, Pyongyang sought to flex its strength by unveiling plans for a 10,000-ton naval destroyer and reaffirming its status as a nuclear-armed state.
North Korea probably has a nuclear arsenal of about 60 warheads, up from 50 a year ago, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said on Sunday.
It also estimates the North is stepping up output of fissile material beyond a level now sufficient for at least 30 more warheads.
(Reporting by Jack Kim and Brenda Goh)
