China’s Foreign Ministry said it had “no information” Monday about persistent rumors that Communist Party leader Xi Jinping may make his first visit to North Korea in September, an answer South Korean newswire service Yonhap reports it only made public on Wednesday.
Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper was the first to report on August 17 that Beijing was planning for Xi to visit Pyongyang at or around September 9, the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist North Korea. A reporter from Yonhap asked foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang during his regular briefing Monday whether he could confirm the report. Yonhap notes that his response appeared on the foreign ministry website on Wednesday.
“China and the DPRK [North Korea] are friendly neighbors, and the two parties and two states have been in friendly exchanges. I have no information to offer for your specific question,” Lu told the reporter.
Yonhap noted that the foreign ministry even taking the question was an “unusual step,” as the ministry typically deletes from its online record any questions that it deems “sensitive” so that they are not available for posterity. “Instead of flatly denying the report, Lu also stressed the friendly relationship and exchanges between China and North Korea, apparently lending weight to speculation about Xi’s imminent Pyongyang visit,” Yonhap noted.
The Straits Times notably reported Xi’s trip without citing any sources, either North Korean or Chinese. “The Straits Times understands that Mr Xi will attend the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of North Korea’s founding on Sept 9 at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, barring last-minute changes,” the report read, without elaborating. The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement is the only official recognition of the report by either government. North Korea’s state media acknowledged this week that the government had established “an international preparatory committee for celebrating the 70th birthday of the DPRK,” without elaborating.
The North Korea monitor site 38 North reported on Tuesday that satellite evidence of preparations for the Foundation Day Parade, set to occur to celebrate the anniversary of the nation on September 9, suggest it will “at least match but likely surpass the size of the parade held this past February to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of Korean People’s Army.” Pyongyang tempered its traditionally belligerent parades at the beginning of the year – the February parade as well as celebrations of Kim Jong-un’s birthday in January, and the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il-sung in April – as part of its efforts to ingratiate itself with the free world and confirm a meeting between Kim and American President Donald Trump. The meeting occurred in June, but neither the United States nor the United Nations have removed sanctions on North Korea for its many human rights abuses and its illegal nuclear weapons program.
The 38 North report states that North Korean officials began preparing for the parade in July, building a “small tent city” for troops participating in the parade and amassing hundreds of trucks to use to bring them into the capital. Preparations for a larger parade may mean the regime intends to return to a belligerent stance against the United States, but they may also suggest the expected presence of a special guest the North Koreans hope to impress.
Xi and Kim have met three times, all three visits by Kim to China and all occurring this year. Kim visited Beijing on two occasions, in April and June, and made a visit to the seaside resort city of Dalian in May. North Korea’s stance towards denuclearization talks with the United States appeared to shift notably following each of these meetings and American officials were quick to blame China for convincing Kim to take a more strident stance against the free world.
Xi’s visit to Pyongyang, if it occurs, would be his first to North Korea as chairman of the Communist Party, the top authority in China, and the first by any leader of China since Hu Jintao in 2005.
In addition to Xi’s potential presence in the country, the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported this week that China sent a senior foreign ministry official to North Korea recently, citing “a source in Beijing.”
“It is known that a Chinese official entered North Korea. The visit drew attention due to its sensitive timing,” the source claimed. The source did not appear to elaborate on whether the visit was related to the rumors about a Xi visit.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.