Chinese President Xi Jinping has written a letter to North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un urging him to cooperate for world peace and regional stability, according to reports from the official North Korean news agency KCNA.
Responding to North Korea’s congratulatory message after his re-election as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xi underlined in his letter the importance of relations between the two countries, especially in a historical moment of “unprecedented” changes.
“Changes in the world, times and history are taking place in an unprecedented way. In this new situation, I will work with Comrade General Secretary” Kim Jong-un and “I wish to make new and positive contributions to promote peace, stability , development and prosperity in the region and the world at large,” the letter said.
Xi also recalls in the letter the “important common points of understanding and progress in relations” in the search for political solutions regarding the Korean peninsula and the protection of the interests of both countries. Both leaders “strongly champion the cause of socialism and have worked vigorously to safeguard peace and stability in the region and the world,” Xi added.
The letter comes at a time of particular tension in East Asia and the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang fired a record number of missiles this year, including those with intercontinental range, towards the Sea of Japan and intelligence from the United States and South Korea say it is ready to carry out its seventh nuclear test.
Furthermore, Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have strengthened their military cooperation with respect to the North Korean threat and have multiplied their joint military exercises.
North Korea, subjected to international sanctions, is heavily dependent on China in economic terms, even if it is not always aligned with Chinese positions and ready to respond to Beijing’s requests.
Beijing has not joined the condemnation by many large countries at the UN in relation to thelast launch of an ICBM of November 18 by North Korea. Last week US President Joe Biden, in the summit with Xi in Bali on the sidelines of the G20, he asked the Chinese leader to send a clear message to Pyongyang to refrain from carrying out a new nuclear test.
