China Wants To Strengthen Ties With North Korea

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping wishes Kim Jong Un a happy birthday to the ruling party of North Korea. He also expressed his intention to strengthen ties with Pyongyang.

"We intend to maintain, consolidate and develop Sino-Korean relations together with our Korean counterparts and support the stable and long-lasting development of the two countries' socialist goals," the North Korean News Agency KCNA said, quoting President Xi.

Saturday marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers' Party. Events are expected to host a massive military parade, possibly featuring some of North Korea's first long-range ballistic missiles for the first time since 2018.

Xi said he was "very pleased" with North Korea's achievements in recent years through its engagement with foreign countries in facing difficulties and challenges, KCNA reported.

After years of cold relations, at a time when China joined the United States and other nations in imposing sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, Xi and Kim met five times during 2018-19.

North Korea's diplomatic moves include Kim meeting with US President Donald Trump. While North Korea claims it has not recorded any confirmed cases of COVID-19, the tight border closure and the adoption of other measures to prevent the outbreak have further stressed its economy. These things make North Korea very dependent on trade with China.