Xi-Kim historic meeting gives fresh impetus to peninsula situation

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan walk together in Beijing – KCNA/via Reuters

People’s Daily: In the spring season of rebirth and renewal, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with the visiting Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un, who paid his first foreign visit since taking office in 2011 on developing inter-party relations, bilateral ties and promoting the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula.

President Xi made four proposals from a strategic view.

The historic meeting at a special time and of great importance stands as testament to the continuity and development of the friendship between China and DPRK in a new era and is the fruit of a China solution that sticks to resolving the peninsula issue through dialogue and consultation.

The meeting between Xi and Kim will surely promote the bilateral traditional friendship to a new level, inject fresh impetus in the turnaround of the peninsula situation and play a fundamental role in the peace, stability and development regionally and globally.

Both the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government highly value China-DPRK friendly cooperative ties. President Xi stressed that we should perceive and promote the bilateral ties. China sticks to the goal of denuclearization of the peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula and solving problems through dialogue and consultation. These proposals promote the resolution of the peninsula issue in the right course.

Practice has proved that China plays a critical role toward the thaw of the situation on the peninsula and President Xi’s view in the policies toward the DPRK and the peninsula is completely correct.

“I believe that the first meeting with CPC Central Committee General Secretary Xi Jinping in the joyous and hopeful New Year will usher in the great achievements of the DPRK-China friendship and promote the peace and stability on the peninsula,” said Chairman Kim, whose enthusiastic speech expressed high recognition of General Secretary Xi.

The speech also showed the DPRK’s hopes to strengthen strategic communication with China, as well as a willingness to jointly maintain the momentum of consultations and dialogue.

In the face of opportunities, the key to the problem needs to be accurately grasped. More importantly, the overall wisdom and ability to master the general trend are also indispensable. In this historic meeting, General Secretary Xi fully affirmed the positive changes to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Xi called on all parties involved to support the improvement of relations between the two Koreas. He emphasised that China is willing to continually play a constructive role on the peninsula issue, which pointed out the right direction towards the denuclearisation and peace of the Korean Peninsula.

We are convinced that no difficulty is insurmountable if one sets one’s mind to do it. As long as the parties concerned show sincerity, respond to each other and form synergy, we will certainly be able to jointly promote the situation on the Korean Peninsula with ease.

China and the DPRK are joined by common mountains and rivers and closely related and mutually dependent. The bilateral relations were personally created and cultivated by the older generations of leaderships of both sides.

The friendship has been rooted in the hearts of the two peoples and deeply treasured by them and withstood the test of time. We should perpetuate the leading role of close high-level contacts, make good use of strategic communication, actively promote peace and development and consolidate public support for bilateral ties.

Standing at a new starting point, President Xi put forward the above four propositions based on both history and reality and on national and regional structures and China-DPRK relations.

In order to preserve, consolidate and develop bilateral relations, we firmly acknowledge that passing on and carrying forward China-DPRK friendship is our common strategic choice and serves the common interests of both sides, and is also our only correct choice.

To ensure the well-being of the two peoples and regional peace and stability, we must remember our initial determination and go hand in hand in a bid to carry forward our friendship for future generations and we will surely develop much better.

Communication, exchanges, cooperation and development are the best ways to thaw the heavy ice of the current peninsula situation. The Korean Peninsula has undergone twists and turns.

However, peace, stability, development and prosperity are the shared aspirations of the entire people in the peninsula, as well as the target and direction that China has insisted to settle the peninsula issue.

As long as we grasp the new opportunity created by this historic meeting, intensify communication and mutual trust, we will certainly push China-DPRK relations toward a healthy development path in the long run, inject more energy to solving the Peninsula issue and make new contributions to regional peace, stability and development.