China applauded North Korea’s recent burst of international diplomacy with President Trump as a victory for the regime’s “socialist cause” that warrants new economic cooperation between the two communist powers.
“The DPRK’s socialist cause has reached a new historical stage,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, using North Korea’s formal acronym, told reporters. “We support the DPRK in its efforts to realize economic development, improve its people’s livelihood, and pursue a development path that suits its national conditions.”
That salute came as Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It was the first encounter since President Trump and Kim met for an historic summit in Singapore on June 12 and the third encounter between the two dictators this year. China’s state-run news outlet Xinhua said Xi offered to teach North Korea about China’s brand of socialism.
“Xi said that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era,” Xinhua reported. “China is willing to share its experience with the DPRK, and strengthen unity and cooperation to jointly create a better future for the socialist cause of the two countries, said Xi.”
Kim visited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences during the trip. “It appears that Kim and his delegation visited the farming science center,” a source told Yonhap News Agency, a South Korean-based media outlet. “This might reflect the North’s increasing interest in farming reform.”
The offer of stronger economic cooperation comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is offering the prospect of economic relations with the U.S. in exchange for North Korea’s denuclearization.
“We talked about the fact that America has often in history had adversaries who we are now close partners with and our hope that we could achieve the same with respect to North Korea,” Pompeo said following a pre-summit trip to North Korea. “If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends.”
But China has no desire to see such a U.S.-North Korea partnership emerge, according to regional analysts.
“China doesn’t like the current picture of the two Koreas and the US center stage without China. Beijing’s main concern is any chance that it can’t exercise its influence and serve its interests in the region,” Duyeon Kim, senior fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, South Korea, told CNN in April.
