Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Beijing is ready to work with Pyongyang for world peace, North Korean state media said on Saturday.
Xi’s news came days after North Korea launched an ICBM in one of its most powerful tests yet, and said it would counter perceived US nuclear threats with its own nuclear weapons.
North Korea has carried out a record-breaking blitz of missile launches in recent weeks and fears have grown that it is preparing for a seventh nuclear test, the first since 2017.
In his message to Kim, Xi said Beijing stands ready to work with the North for “peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region and the world,” Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Xi said he was willing to work with Pyongyang as “changes are happening in the world, in times and in history in unprecedented ways,” KCNA said, citing from the message it released in response to Kim’s congratulations after the Chinese Communist Party Congress awarded Xi a third term last month.
Days before North Korea’s ICBM launch, Xi met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Bali, who expressed confidence that Beijing does not want to see further escalation from Pyongyang.
Washington has said it wants China, Pyongyang’s key ally and economic benefactor, to use its influence to contain North Korea.
The Nov. 18 missile launch appeared to be Pyongyang’s newest ICBM with the potential range to hit the US mainland.
The UN Security Council called a 14-nation open meeting with the United States, Britain, France and India during the launch to “strongly condemn” Pyongyang’s actions.
But a Western diplomat told AFP China and Russia chose not to give their names in Monday’s statement.
Earlier this month, the United States accused Beijing and Moscow of shielding Pyongyang from further punishment.
In May, China and Russia vetoed a US-led attempt to tighten sanctions on North Korea in response to earlier launches.
Pyongyang is already subject to multiple international sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and China accounts for more than 90 percent of the impoverished country’s bilateral trade.
