Coming Korea-China Summit
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin held a press conference in Beijing on July 1 and said, “The foremost purpose of the Korea-China summit meeting at this time is to enhance bilateral cooperation, and the two Presidents will discuss a wide variety of topics, ranging from economic issues to the North Korea nuclear issue and Japan’s attempt to distort history.” The two Presidents are planning to sign a total of 12 official documents during the meeting.
“The Chinese government’s official stance regarding the nuclear issue is denuclearization, peace, and stability in the Korean Peninsula,” he said, adding, “The two leaders will exchange their opinions sufficiently concerning an early resumption of the six-party talks, too.”
He also explained that China has maintained its friendly relations and communication with both Seoul and Pyongyang. In response to the question of whether or not the President's visit to Seoul prior to Pyongyang has to do with putting pressure on the North, Zhenmin responded that President Xi Jinping’s visit to Korea targets no third country. “We believe that dialogue should come first in pursuit of denuclearization in the peninsula,” he answered in response to a question about new measures Beijing has in mind to resolve the nuclear issue, continuing that North Korea sets count on many issues for its own security, as seen in the recent missile launch ahead of the summit talks.
“President Xi’s visit to Korea at this time is to foster a strategic partnership between South Korea and China, and we gave notice to no other country about the visit. We are communicating with other countries as usual,” he commented about who will be sent to Pyongyang to explain the result of the talks.
“Both South Korea and China are victims of the past Japanese militarism during the Second World War, sharing the same concerns over its history distortion. It is very natural for both of them to talk about Japan,” he went on. “The two leaders will discuss how to counteract Japan’s attempt to distort history, but the details of the discussion will not be made public.”