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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Vice Chairman Li Hongzhong of the standing committee of the China's National People's Congress, right, attend a military parade in Pyongyang, July 27, celebrated as "Victory Day," to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. AP-Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-jin
China will send a relatively low-profile delegation to North Korea to take part in the celebration of the nation's founding day later this week, in what appears to be an effort by Beijing to distance itself from rapidly improving ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, according to analysts, Thursday.
A Chinese delegation led by Liu Guozhong, vice premier of the State Council of China, will participate in the 75th anniversary celebration of North Korea's Foundation Day which falls on Sept. 9, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
China is apparently sending a relatively lower-ranking official compared to a previous occasion, given that North Korea considers anniversaries marking multiples of five or 10 years as significant national holidays.
In 2018, a delegation team headed by Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China ― a third-ranked official ― attended the celebration event of the 70th anniversary of North Korea's founding day.
Diplomatic observers said that China's decision to send a lower-ranking official to its key ally for a major celebration event shows Beijing's caution against becoming too closely aligned with the North Korea-Russia partnership.
Pyongyang and Moscow have been boasting their improved ties based on military cooperation in recent months, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expected to travel to Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum taking place Sept. 10 to 13 and possibly hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"China, which has been increasing efforts to manage the intense rivalry with the United States, would want to avoid causing a direct confrontation with the U.S.," said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of National Unification.
"Sending a lower-level delegation means that it is refraining from taking provocative actions that the U.S. would strongly dislike."
On the other hand, Russia may send a high-level delegation to North Korea for the founding day ceremony in order to boost the visibility of the rapidly improving bilateral ties, Cho said.
He anticipated that Russia's delegation could be headed by Putin's right-hand man Dmitri Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russia's Security Council, while not ruling out the possibility of Putin's attendance at the ceremony.
Go Myong-hyun, a senior fellow of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, also said that Beijing is trying to refrain from emphasizing its ties with North Korea and Russia too overtly.
"China is seeking to build stronger trilateral ties with North Korea and Russia, but at the same time, it feels the need to exercise a certain degree of 'speed control' in forging closer relations with its two neighbors," he said.
The envisioned visit by Liu Guozhong also suggests that China is seeking to strengthen bilateral relations based on economic cooperation, according to Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies.
"Liu Guozhong is the former governor of Jilin province and has expertise in the economy," he said, explaining that China may be planning to expand economic ties with North Korea in the northeastern Dongbei border region.
South Korea's Ministry of Unification offered a similar view.
"Given that (Liu Guozhong) has a deep understanding of North Korean issues and is currently in charge of economic affairs, it appears that North Korea and China are focusing their ties on economic cooperation, while North Korea's engagement with Russia is more focused on military partnerships," a ministry official told reporters.
The official also said China may not fully welcome the deepening North Korea-Russia relations, which would spur stronger trilateral ties between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, adding pressure to China.
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