China Seeks Closer North Korea Ties After Xi-Kim Summit That Skipped Nuclear Issue

A Chinese academic said Friday that Beijing intends to normalize and expand ties with North Korea while keeping its longstanding policy of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula unchanged. Yu Tiejun, president of Peking University's Institute of International and Strategic Studies, made the remarks at the Korean Peninsula Symposium in Seoul, co-hosted by Yonhap News Agency.

He said China made no public reference to the nuclear issue during President Xi Jinping's June 8 talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.

"We try to normalize and substantialize the DPRK-China relations, and China doesn't change its policy of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Yu said. He added that Beijing wants to serve as an "honest broker" to build a peace regime on the peninsula over the long term and has opposed regional polarization. "We are keeping a normal relationship with Russia and with the DPRK.

I think it's quite consistent," Yu said. Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair of the Hudson Institute, also spoke at the symposium and described denuclearization as a continuing priority rather than a secondary matter. He noted that North Korea has advanced its nuclear capabilities since the 1950-53 Korean War and has set recognition as a nuclear power as a precondition for any dialogue.

"Denuclearization is still not a secondary issue ... It has never stopped, and there has been a continuum here," Cronin said.