At the invitation of Xi Jinping, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un paid an unofficial visit to China from March 25 to 28. During the visit, Xi held talks with Kim at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua] Last week's meeting between President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, indicates China is playing an essential role in the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, according to several US analysts. Kim paid an unofficial visit to China from March 25 to Wednesday, during which he met with Xi in Beijing. China's role is essential, said Jon Taylor, professor of political science at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. The visit to Beijing and the Xi-Kim meeting has reinforced China's role as a central actor in managing security issues in Northeast Asia in general and the Korean Peninsula in particular, he said. During their Beijing meeting, Xi said China will continue to play a constructive role on the issue and work with all parties, including the DPRK, toward a thaw of the situation on the peninsula. Kim said it is his country's consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula and the DPRK is willing to have a dialogue with the United States and hold a summit between the two countries. The Xi-Kim meeting is expected to be followed by a flurry of other talks, such as the late-April summit between Kim and President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea. These are quite relevant to the summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim in May, according to Taylor, who writes about China. The willingness of the principal parties to engage in diplomacy and dialogue on the Korean Peninsula issue is a hopeful sign, Taylor told China Daily. If the Moon-Kim summit goes as well as the Xi-Kim summit, the greater the likelihood that Trump and Kim will be able to ratchet down nuclear tensions and begin to address the challenge of developing a meaningful path to peace. Yun Sun, co-director of the East Asia Program at the Stimson Center, a think tank in Washington, said, The significance (of the Xi-Kim meeting) is that China shows the world that China is indispensable in the process and cannot be excluded. Sun said China has cooperated with Trump on sanctions and placing the maximum pressure on Kim, which has brought Pyongyang back to the negotiation table. Looking into the future, for any deal with North Korea to sustain, China will have to be included and most likely as a guarantor, she said in an email. The more consensus and amity Pyongyang and Seoul can build, between themselves and toward denuclearization, the more foundation it will pave for the engagement between Trump and Kim, she said. The Beijing meeting showed that whatever may come of the upcoming inter-Korean and North Korea-US summits, China will not be a peripheral, Ankit Panda, a senior editor with The Diplomat who covers Asia-Pacific security and the DPRK's ballistic-missile and nuclear-weapons programs, said in a Wednesday post. As this trip represents Kim's first known sojourn outside of the country to meet a foreign head of state, it suggests that the North Korean leader may not be averse to traveling outside of the country (perhaps even overseas) for a summit with the US president, said Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a commentary co-authored with Sue Mi Terry, a senior fellow at the CSIS. Ke Yian in Washington contributed to this story. silicone bandscool rubber braceletsrubber band bracelet charmsorder rubber bracelets cheapbracelet montre silicone
Qu Xing, China's ambassador to Belgium, has been appointed deputy director-general of UNESCO, an official at the embassy said on Thursday. Qu becomes another Chinese who has secured a prominent position in an international organization as the country gains a greater global presence.The appointment was made by Audrey Azoulay, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, according to the official, who asked not to be named. UNESCO, based in Paris, had not commented by press time.Qu, a scholar-turned-diplomat, was continuing his role as ambassador, the official said.Qu was unavailable for comment, and it was unclear when he would be leaving to join UNESCO, the official said.In a recent interview, Qu said China "is qualified" to provide international organizations with more professionals, especially because the nation is bearing an increasing share of financial responsibility within the organizations as well as participating more actively in working for global peace and development."The organizations are seeking more Chinese to work and the Chinese deserve a greater presence there because of China's growing contribution," Qu said in the interview. It is, however, a challenge to find enough qualified professionals to fill all the vacancies, Qu said.Using UNESCO as an example, Qu said, "The quota and vacancies for China are there, but it is not easy to find those Chinese who have a very good command of several languages at the same time." Aside from his native Chinese, Qu speaks French and English fluently.Chinese now working for international organizations include Li Yong, former deputy minister of finance, who has started his second term as director-general of the Vienna-based United Nations Industrial Development Organization last year, and Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a China-initiated 84-member institution created to support regional development.Justin Yifu Lin, now a professor with Peking University, served as chief economist and senior vice-president of the World Bank, where he served from 2008 to 2012, and Margaret Chan was director-general of the World Health Organization from 2007 to 2017.
