Beijing hopes Washington and Pyongyang can move in same direction on denuclearisation, Xi Jinping tells visiting foreign ministerChinese leader offers support for Kim Jong-un’s new focus on economic development
Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho on Friday that Washington and Pyongyang should address each others’ concerns and make progress to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.
Ri’s visit to Beijing came just days after Xi held talks with US President Donald Trump in Argentina, where North Korea was one of the topics on the agenda.
It also follows South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha’s meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Thursday.
Talks on denuclearisation of the peninsula have been at a stalemate since Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June.
But Washington has signalled that the two leaders might meet again early next year.
Xi told Ri that China hoped North Korea and the US “would to move in the same direction and consider each other’s legitimate concerns, so that the peace talks on the peninsula will continue to make positive progress”, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.
“The Chinese side supports the North Korean people under the leadership of its leader Kim Jong-un to explore a [new] development path,” Xi said in apparent support for Kim’s decision to focus on rebuilding his country’s economy, rather than the previous policy of simultaneous development of the economy and nuclear weapons.
