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Cyril Ip

The leaders of China and North Korea marked 75 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries with a pledge on Sunday to develop a “new era” of relations.
In an exchange of messages, Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un that the two countries had “marched hand in hand” over the decades to strengthen exchanges and cooperation and promote socialism, according to state news agency Xinhua.
They had also “collaborated closely” on advancing regional peace and stability and safeguarding international fairness and justice, Xi noted.
“Under the new era and new situation, China is willing to work with the DPRK to … strengthen strategic communication and coordination, deepen friendly exchanges and cooperation, and continue to write a new chapter of the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK,” Xi said, referring to North Korea by its official title, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He added that China wished to jointly promote the steady and long-term development of the two countries’ socialist cause and to better benefit their peoples.
North Korea was among the first group of countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, formalising ties just five days after the PRC’s founding in October 1949.
The two countries signed a defence treaty in 1961, the only one that China has with any nation.
According to the Xinhua report, Kim said that developing friendship between the two countries “just as in the past” was in the fundamental interests of Beijing and Pyongyang.
“The North Korean party and government will continue to make efforts to consolidate and develop friendly cooperative relations between North Korea and China in accordance with the requirements of the new era,” Kim was quoted as saying.
It echoed a congratulatory message the North Korean leader sent on Tuesday, when China celebrated its 75th National Day.
“I believe that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries will grow stronger in conformity with the requirements of the new era,” Kim said in his message on Tuesday.
The messages of goodwill come amid speculation of strains in the relationship caused by differences over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
In May, North Korea condemned a joint commitment from China, Japan and South Korea to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.


Observers have also described Beijing as being guarded about deepening links between Pyongyang and Moscow.
In a rare visit to North Korea in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defence pact with Kim. Kim also met Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang last month.
Xi’s last official visit to Pyongyang was in June 2019.
In his message on Sunday, Xi said the friendship between two countries had “withstood the test of changing times and vicissitudes in the international situation”, adding that they had “supported each other in the struggle to consolidate people’s power and safeguard national sovereignty”.
Xi also sent a congratulatory message to Kim on the 76th anniversary of North Korea’s founding last month, saying bilateral ties had “become stronger over time”. The two leaders also communicated in January, when they exchanged New Year’s greetings.
China’s third-ranking official, Zhao Leji, visited Pyongyang in April. It was the highest-level meeting between the two countries in nearly five years and part of a series of engagements marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties.


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China-North Korea relations

China, North Korea mark 75 years of ties with pledge for ‘new era’ in exchanges

Chinese President Xi Jinping with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in 2019. Photo: Xinhua

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China

Diplomacy

Latest goodwill messages between leaders come amid speculation of strains caused by differences over North Korea’s nuclear programme.


Xi Jinping

North Korea

Kim Jong-un

Korean peninsula

China, North Korea mark 75 years of ties with pledge for ‘new era’ in exchanges

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Latest goodwill messages between leaders come amid speculation of strains caused by differences over North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Latest goodwill messages between leaders come amid speculation of strains caused by differences over North Korea’s nuclear programme.