Decoding the Chinese envoy's trip to North Korea

A senior Chinese diplomat arrived in North Korea on November 17 as a special envoy of President Xi Jinping, a trip that comes amid mounting pressure on Pyongyang over its weapons development program.

The trip comes as US President Donald Trump wraps up a 13-day trip to Asia, where he called for more diplomacy with North Korea and urged China to do more.

Mr. Song Tao. Photo: SHM

Observers say that we should not expect an immediate solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis. If anything, the visit is just a step towards warming Sino-North Korean relations.

CNN quoted John Delury of the School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul as saying that many people were expecting a breakthrough in the nuclear missile standoff, but it seemed the focus of the trip was on improving bilateral channels.

Earlier, China's Xinhua news agency reported that special envoy Song Tao will visit North Korea this week. This is the first time a Chinese official has visited North Korea this year.

According to Xinhua, Mr. Song will officially inform the Workers' Party of Korea of ​​the results of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, according to which President Xi Jinping was elected for a second term.

Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, commented that a nuclear standoff is likely to be on the agenda.

"Even if he discussed North Korea's nuclear program, I don't think each side's views on the issue would change significantly," Zhao told CNN. "It could be a routine exchange of their long-standing views."

Delury said it would be important to see how Mr Song is received in Pyongyang, and how the visit is covered by North Korean media. "If he meets with Kim Jong Un, it would be a strong message that North Korea wants to improve relations with China, but I would be surprised if that happened."

“How North Korea reports on the visit, who it will meet with, and the tone of the coverage will tell us a number of things, whether it is positive or not, whether any progress is being made or not…”, Mr. Delury added.

China has repeatedly called for a de-escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, whereby North Korea freezes its nuclear program in exchange for the US and South Korea suspending joint military exercises. However, the Kim Jong Un administration has flatly opposed diplomatic negotiations tied to abandoning its nuclear program.

A brief exchange of congratulatory messages in early November after China's Party Congress ended appeared to suggest that Beijing and Pyongyang may be making efforts to mend ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have not met in person, nor have there been any high-level diplomatic visits between the two sides in 2017 so far. Therefore, the two sides need time to "catch up," according to expert Delury.

According to Vietnamnet.vn