لنستخرج كنوزا من المعرفة و الإبداع و العلم و الأفكار
Blinken urged China to leverage its influence and push the DPRK to return to talks during a series of meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other top officials this week, the diplomat told reporters on Monday.
But China’s foreign ministry made clear on Tuesday that Beijing doesn’t view itself as primarily responsible for changing North Korea’s behavior.
“The crux of the Korean Peninsula issues is very clear: All parties need to face the crux of the issues squarely,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference.
The spokesperson emphasized that “all parties” must “step up to their respective responsibilities” and address the” legitimate concerns” of one and other through “meaningful dialogue.”
Her comments, which repeated China’s oft-stated stance on DPRK-related issues, also stated that Beijing wants to promote a constructive political settlement, while hinting at the need for the U.S. to engage more directly in resolving the tensions.
diplomatic sources recently told NK News that behind closed doors, China has been actively promoting a return to the Six Party Talks or other multilateral discussions to resolve peninsula issues.
But key nations are opposed to revisiting the multilateral format, due to either the absence of progress following prior efforts or because Russia would be involved despite its invasion of Ukraine, an informed source said.
Meanwhile, North Korea on Wednesday issued its own far less diplomatic response to Blinken’s China visit.
In a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, international affairs analyst Jong Yong Hak lambasted the Biden administration for what he called the hypocrisy of its long-standing pressure-driven approach to China.
Describing Blinken’s visit as a “disgraceful begging trip,” Jong painted it as an admission that Washington’s China policy has failed.
“If the U.S. persists in its moves to seek hegemony and confrontation in international relations, oblivious of the lesson of history, it will never be able to escape from the fate of the loser.”
Jong’s remarks were published under his own name, without any institutional affiliation. His name has not previously appeared in state media, possibly indicating that DPRK propagandists want to keep some distance from Jong’s rebuke of the U.S. visit.
Fyodor Tertitsky, a researcher at Kookmin University, previously told NK News that DPRK propagandists use statements published under the name of individual researchers when they want to “play it safe,” presenting criticism as a “private opinion.”
China and North Korea’s reactions to Biden’s trip underscore the difficulty for international stakeholders to find common ground on peninsula-related issues.
In New York, the ongoing impasse between key stakeholders on the U.N. Security Council continues to stifle condemnation of DPRK missile tests and proposals for new sanctions, while also hindering the operation of the U.N. sanctions monitors.
