President Trump said Thursday that China’s decision to send a special envoy to North Korea in the wake of his visit to five Asian countries last week was a “big” deal.
“China is sending an Envoy and Delegation to North Korea – A big move, we’ll see what happens!” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
China is sending an Envoy and Delegation to North Korea – A big move, we’ll see what happens!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2017
The forthcoming trip was reported Wednesday and is meant to give Chinese President Xi Jinping more information about the Korean national congress that was held last month.
Song Tao is the head of China’s ruling Communist Party’s International Department, and will travel to Pyongyang, North Korea, later this week. The trip marks the first time a ministerial-level Chinese official has visited Kim Jong Un’s country since October 2015.
The newly announced visit comes days after Trump left China after meeting with Xi. The Chinese government did not say if the trip was connected to Trump’s visit, though Trump has pressured China to encourage Kim to stop testing missiles, and spent part of his visit discussing the issue.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said exchanging views in this kind of trip was “common practice” between both leaders’ parties.
