Xi Jinping tells Moon Jae-in that the issue of Pyonyang’s nuclear weapons programme should be resolved through negotiation
Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed tensions on the Korean peninsula with South Korea’s new liberal President Moon Jae-in on Thursday, state television said, as Moon set about addressing a raft of problems posed by Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. Xi told Moon that China has always upheld the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and that the nuclear issue should be resolved through talks, which are in everyone’s interests, according to the state television report. China was willing to keep working hard with all parties, including South Korea, for the peace and prosperity of the Korean peninsula, Xi said. The two leaders agreed in their first phone conversation that “denuclearising the Korean peninsula is the two countries’ common goal”, Moon’s spokesman Yoon Young-chan told reporters. Xi officially invited Moon to visit Beijing, Yoon added. Despite Chinese anger at North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests, China remains the isolated state’s most important economic and diplomatic backer, even as Beijing has signed up for tough UN sanctions against Pyongyang. Beijing also has its own issues with Seoul. China has vigorously opposed the deployment of a US anti-missile system in South Korea, saying it threatens Chinese security and will do nothing to resolve tensions with North Korea.
