Chinese president pens front-page op-ed in Rodong Sinmun ahead of first Pyongyang visit in 7 years
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday he would work with North Korea to advance a multipolar world through strategic communication and coordination, ahead of his first visit to Pyongyang in seven years.
In an op-ed published on the front page of the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, Xi said the two countries must "strengthen strategic communication and coordination in keeping with the trends of the times, and jointly uphold the international order based on the UN-centered international system and international law."
He went on to say the two sides must "oppose hegemonism and power politics, and oppose all ambitions and machinations that seek to revive militarism and undermine regional peace and stability." They should also "jointly advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization," he added.
Xi's call for a "multipolar world" reflects one of China's core foreign policy goals: challenging the United States' dominant global position. His reference to "ambitions that seek to revive militarism and undermine regional peace and stability" appeared to be a veiled criticism of Japan's recent moves to expand its military capabilities.
Xi made no direct mention of inter-Korean relations, denuclearization or the Korean Peninsula. He did, however, include an indirect reference, saying the two countries must "firmly safeguard the political security of both nations by supporting each other in advancing along the path of socialism suited to their own national conditions."
kate01@heraldcorp.com
