China dismisses North Korean troops in Russia as ‘a matter for themselves’ – Washington Examiner

About 8,000 members of the Korean People’s Army are expected to go into battle in the Kursk region, currently occupied by Ukrainian armyUS defense officials believe.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that soldiers are equipped with Russian uniforms and weapons to hide their cooperation – a sign that both countries are aware that North Korea’s entry into the conflict could spark a sense of urgency in the international community if an outside power is involved.

If any country could be expected to approve of this joint military operation, it would be China – the current third musketeer of geopolitical disruptions in Asia.

However, the Chinese Communist Party was reluctant to get involved.

When asked for comment during a press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian distanced Beijing from North Korea’s decisions and Russia.

“We have recently noted some reports related to this and responses from various parties. The DPRK and Russia are two independent sovereign states, and how to develop bilateral relations is a matter of its own,” Jian told the media. “China is not aware of the specifics of bilateral exchanges and cooperation between the DPRK and Russia.”

He reiterated the Chinese government’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying the country “hopes that the parties will work to reduce tensions and remain committed to a political solution to the Ukraine crisis,” without elaborating.

This comment came just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that they were in contact with their Chinese counterparts to discuss the matter.

“I think they are well aware of the concerns that we have and the expectation that, both in word and in deed, they will use the influence that they have to work to reduce these activities,” Blinken told a news conference in press with South Korean leaders on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed shock at China’s “silence” during a wide-ranging national security update posted on social media on Thursday.

“North Korea’s actions are not accidental; have strategic objectives. I am surprised by China’s silence,” the Ukrainian president wrote. “I can’t say that China is on our side, but as a guarantor of regional security, its silence is striking.”

A long series of back-and-forth state visits by President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putinand North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has, for the past few years, regarded the trio as a rising military coalition.

Kim, a cautious leader who does not normally leave his hermit kingdom, traveled by train to Beijing for a rare state visit with Xi in January 2019 ahead of his meeting with then-President Donald Trump the following month. Xi reciprocated that summer with the first visit by a supreme Chinese leader to North Korea in more than 14 years.

Putin has visited China annually since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Xi visited Putin in 2023, where he signed a joint agreement to expand cooperation between the two countries. He too attended the 16th annual BRICS summit in Russia in October of this year.

Kim also made diplomatic trips to Russia in 2019 and 2023 – a show of loyalty that Putin repaid with one of the few state visits by a foreign leader to North Korea in 2024, where the two dictators have been photographed laughing and playing in luxury cars. for state media.

After Russia’s initial incursions into Ukraine in early 2022, China adopted a policy of neither supporting nor condemning Putin’s decision. The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have constantly promoted general appeals for peace and made offers to facilitate such negotiations.

China’s political rapprochement with Russia has made these gestures both suspect and valuable to Ukraine.

Zelensky said in an interview in May that he would like China’s involvement in the peace talks because Xi’s voice would dominate Putin’s. That opening was complicated when Ukraine then accused China of pressuring other countries not to attend a peace conference in June. Switzerland.

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The Ukrainian president on Thursday backed the idea of ​​an “Asian security alliance” – a hypothetical coalition of Japan, South Koreaand China that would reduce North Korea and keep the East Asian region stable.

“Both Japan and South Korea are strong, civilized nations, and the connection with China could be essential to counter North Korea’s aggression, as North Korea is actively dragging that region into a war,” Zelensky said . “Their actions are not random – they want Russia’s support in return.”

Dialogue already exists between the countries through the annual China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit, which last met in May this month. But Zelensky’s proposed alliance is still an unlikely aspiration due to long-standing political tensions between all three members.