China’s Xi says intends to deepen relations with North Korea

Seoul

In a congratulatory message to Kim Jong Un for the founding anniversary of North Korea’s ruling party, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he intends to deepen relations with Pyongyang, North Korean state media reported. “We have an intent to successfully defend, consolidate and develop the China-Korea relations to-gether with Korean comrades and propel the long-lasting and stable development of the socialist cause of the two countries,” North Korean state news agency KCNA quoted Xi as saying. Xi said he was “greatly pleased” with the achievements that North Korea had made in recent years by engaging with foreign countries in the face of hardships and challenges, KCNA reported.

After years of cool relations during which China joined the United States and other nations in im-posing sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, Xi and Kim met five times in 2018 and 2019. The North Korean diplomatic offensive included Kim meeting with US President Donald Trump. While North Korea says it has had no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, strict border clo-sures and other measures it imposed to prevent an outbreak have further strained its economy, which is heavily reliant on trade with China.