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Nukes, trade underpin Kim¡¦s PRC visit
ASKING FOR AID: Beijing is expected to grant North Korea
further financial aid in return for the regime¡¦s promise to rejoin stalled
six-party denuclearization talks
AP, BEIJING
Thursday, May 06, 2010, Page 4
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A car flying the North Korean flag leaves the
country¡¦s embassy in Beijing, China, yesterday. A motorcade of about 40 cars
arrived at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing yesterday afternoon, the
latest sign that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had arrived for a summit with
Chinese President Hu Jintao.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was believed to have arrived in Beijing
yesterday on a secrecy-shrouded visit that experts say aims to secure economic
support in exchange for a commitment to return to denuclearization talks.
For a third day, Chinese officials refused to confirm Kim was in the country,
though he has been spotted by journalists several times since arriving aboard
his armored train on Monday.
Yesterday afternoon, a fleet of black, North Korean-flagged limousines escorted
by police was seen entering the Diaoyutai State Guest House in western Beijing
where foreign leaders often stay on visits to the capital.
Security was high around the sprawling compound of lakes and villas, with more
police and soldiers posted along its walls and at access points.
South Korean media reported Kim was to be feted by Chinese President Hu Jintao
(JÀAÀÜ) with a welcoming banquet at the Great Hall of the People last night before
the two men and their delegations sit for summit talks today.
China is widely seen as the country with the most clout with Kim¡¦s hardline
communist government. Kim, who is known to shun air travel, has visited China
five times since succeeding his father as ruler in 1994, most recently in 2006.
Japanese and South Korean media, which have been closely tracking Kim, reported
that a train carrying Kim arrived in the booming port of Tianjin about one hour
east of Beijing earlier yesterday.
Today¡¦s discussions are expected to center on further financial help from China,
already impoverished North Korea¡¦s biggest source of food and fuel aid and main
bulwark against tougher international sanctions.
Chinese investment, especially in North Korean natural resources, has been
growing, although widespread economic chaos ¡X most recently a botched currency
reform effort ¡X limits such opportunities.
Fearing the regime¡¦s implosion and mass unrest on its border, China is expected
to accede to new aid requests, said Cai Jian, deputy director of the Center for
Korean Studies at Shanghai¡¦s Fudan University. The sides may also start
implementing a series of economic agreements signed during Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao¡¦s (·Å®aÄ_) trip to Pyongyang last year, Cai said.
While China won¡¦t link the issues explicitly, it will be expecting Kim to offer
some new willingness to rejoin long-stalled six-nation talks sponsored by China
under which Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs in return for
aid.
¡§They want to break the deadlock so that North Korea could get back to the
framework of the six-party talks,¡¨ Cai said.
An announcement during Kim¡¦s visit could bring a new round of six-nation talks
by June, following bilateral contacts between North Korea and the US, said Yang
Moo-jin, a professor at University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
¡§Hu Jintao will promise an active cooperation in Chinese economic aid and
investment to North Korea, while Kim will respond by announcing his country¡¦s
return to the six-party talks and his commitment to denuclearization,¡¨ Yang
said.
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