Chinese President Xi Jinping urged friendship with North Korea in an unexpected meeting with an envoy from the North amid Beijing’s worries about Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
In an unexpected turn of events, China's President Xi met with North Korea's vice party chairman Ri Su Yong in a landmark visit that has not occurred in either country in over three years, UPI reported on Wednesday.
According to the outlet, Ri delivered a letter from Kim Jong Un where the North's leader expressed his wish to "strengthen" relations.
North Korea and China had experienced a tense relationship over the years due to the former's insistent testing of nuclear weaponry along its shores.
Xi's Meeting with the North Koreans
According to UPI, China and North Korea currently have a tense relationship.
However, the New York Times noted that the Chinese President appeared to strike a positive tone in the conversations, where he told the top official from North Korea how his country puts "great importance to developing a friendly relationship with North Korea" and wants "calm" for the Korean Peninsula.
Even so, Xi made no mention or any reference to North Korea's nuclear weapons, though the letter from the North Korean leader reportedly states that they would not end the controversial program, according to BBC News.
"The surprise meeting is believed to have been the first encounter between Mr. Xi and a senior North Korean official since 2013, when he met with Choe Ryong-hae, who was then a special envoy of the Workers' Party in the North," the American media noted.
Simultaneous Events
While Xi and the North Korean diplomacy envoy were talking peace, a South Korean media outlet reported that Chinese authorities are on high alert after a North Korean crossed the border illegally.
Ironically, the report that states that the border-crosser appeared to be a soldier from the North came simultaneously as Pyongyang's envoy went to Beijing.
According to BBC News, China remains an ally of North Korea while supporting sanctions imposed by the United Nations for the latter's series of uncalled for missile fires.
However, UPI said that the ties between the two Asian nations have become strained, particularly because of the increase in kidnappings and homicides in Chinese provinces that face the North Korean border.
"Authorities in the Chinese province of Jilin issued a region-wide text message to local residents on Monday after they received notice an armed North Korean soldier was roaming the area," the report stated, adding that citizens were discouraged from going out of their houses after dark.