SEOUL: Chinese President Xi Jinping will call for a “higher stage” of relations with North Korea, the latter’s state media said on Tuesday, as G-7 foreign ministers condemned Pyongyang’s unprecedented string of weapons tests.
“The traditional China-DPRK friendship has weathered the trials of the changed international situation for a long time,” the Chinese president said in a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, using the initials for the North’s official name.
In his message, carried by North Korean state media outlet Korean Central News Agency, Xi said the global and regional situations are changing seriously and in a complicated manner, adding: “I will continuously push the friendship and cooperation between the two sides to a higher stage.”
Xi’s statement came just hours before G-7 foreign ministers called on North Korea to “refrain” from carrying out further nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, while warning of a “robust” response.
Pyongyang has carried out a series of banned weapons tests this year, including firing few of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
China-N. Korea ties
China is North Korea’s main economic benefactor and long-time treaty ally. Ties between the two countries date back to the Korean War when Chinese leader Mao Zedong sent in millions of “volunteers” to fight US-led United Nations forces.
Mao once described the two countries as being as close as “lips and teeth”, and while their ties have fluctuated over the years, a breakdown in negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington has prompted both sides to strengthen their alliance.
