China vows to work with North Korea to protect regional stability as tensions with Seoul escalate

China said it will work with North Korea on regional stability amid escalating tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang.

The Chinese Communist Party's diplomatic chief Liu Jianchao told North Korean envoy Ri Ryong-nam in Beijing on Friday that China would increase strategic communications and jointly safeguard regional peace with North Korea.

"China is willing to work with [North Korea] ... to carry forward our traditional friendship, deepen strategic communication, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, advance bilateral ties and to safeguard regional peace and stability," Liu said, according to a statement from the International Liaison Department, the Communist Party's diplomatic arm.

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Ri, also quoted in the statement, said North Korea firmly supported China's defence of its "core interests" on Taiwan, Hong Kong, human rights and other issues. He added that Pyongyang would use the opportunity of the 75th anniversary of its bilateral ties with Beijing this year to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.

Ri and Liu also agreed to strengthen inter-party coordination to boost bilateral ties.

Liu's meeting with Ri came after North Korea announced on Friday that it tested its Haeil-5-23 nuclear-capable underwater attack drones in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, in response to the biggest-ever trilateral drill between the US, South Korea and Japan this week.

Tensions are heightening between North Korea and US allies in the region as the nuclear-capable country ramps up weapons tests and its defiant rhetoric.

On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un officially declared South Korea an "invariable principal enemy" of his country, which will drop its long-standing goal to achieve peaceful unification with South Korea. Earlier this month, he also threatened to use nuclear weapons to "annihilate" the US and South Korea if provoked.

On Thursday, nuclear envoys of the US, South Korea and Japan met in Seoul, agreeing to jointly tackle challenges brought by North Korea.

North Korea has stepped up exchanges with Russia amid speculation that the two countries are providing military support to each other as tensions flare in Ukraine and on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visited Moscow earlier this week and was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin said the two sides agreed to develop relations in "all areas", including "sensitive" ones, but did not give details.

China has been relatively low-key about Pyongyang's latest military developments as well as the recent exchanges between North Korea and Russia. Beijing's close ties with the two internationally isolated nations have been closely scrutinised.

The Chinese foreign ministry on Monday called for dialogue and consultations to promote a political settlement process for Korean peninsula issues after North Korea tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile over the weekend. The missile was equipped with a hypersonic warhead believed to be able to hit US bases in Guam.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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