China sending envoy to North Korea after talks with Xi Jinping

A senior Chinese diplomat will be visiting the North on Friday, a week after Trump visited Beijing, as part of his Asian tour

Xi Jinping (left) and Donald Trump (Photo: South China Morning Post)
Xi Jinping (left) and Donald Trump (Photo: South China Morning Post)

A senior Chinese diplomat will be visiting Pyongyang as of Friday, as a special envoy of president Xi Jinping, said Beijing. As yet, there has been no mention of the purpose of the visit and whether it is about the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

China has pushed for an all-round diplomatic solution to the crisis, but has only had limited high-level with North Korea so far.

The last time China’s special envoy for North Korea visited was in February of last year.

In a brief dispatch, the official Xinhua news agency said Song Tao, who heads the Communist party’s external affairs department, would “inform the DPRK of the 19th CPC National Congress and visit the DPRK”. CPC refers to China’s recently concluded Communist party congress at which Xi further cemented his power.

North Korea’s KCNA news agency confirmed the visit but said only that it would take place “soon”.

This comes a week after US president Donald Trump visited Beijing as part of his Asian tour, where he pressed for greater action to rein in Pyongyang, especially from China, with which North Korea does the majority of its trade.

It is unclear how long the visit will last, but Tao has already visited Vietnam and Laos, to inform them of the results of the congress, which is a typical courtesy that China extends to other communist countries, after meetings.

It is also unclear where Tao will meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Kim and Xi exchanged messages of congratulations and thanks over the Chinese party congress but neither has visited the other’s country since assuming power.

Song’s department is in charge of the party’s relations with foreign political parties, and has traditionally served as a conduit for Chinese diplomacy with North Korea.

China’s new special envoy for North Korea, Kong Xuanyou, who took up his position in August, has reportedly not visited the country yet.