BEIJING (AP) — President Hu Jintao visited North Korea's embassy in Beijing on Tuesday to offer his condolences on the death of Kim Jong Il as China moved swiftly to assure its communist ally of its strong support amid an uncertain leadership transition.
Surrounded by scores of security officers, Hu made an early morning trip to the sprawling complex in eastern Beijing’s leafy Jianguomenwai diplomatic district, where the North Korean flag was flying at half-staff. The official Xinhua News Agency reported the visit but offered no other details.
That followed a meeting Monday evening between Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and the embassy’s second highest-ranking official, charge d’affaires Pak Myong Ho, Xinhua said.
Yang told Pak that "comrade Kim Jong Il was a great party and state leader," Xinhua said.
"The Chinese government and people were deeply saddened by the demise of ‘close friend’ Kim Jong Il, who would be remembered forever by the Chinese people," Yang said.
The comments echoed remarks Monday from the Foreign Ministry and ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee, China’s top policy-setting body, hailing Kim’s son and successor Kim Jong Un as North Korea’s new leader and declaring that long-standing ties would flourish between the countries.
Hours earlier, the Foreign Ministry issued condolences on behalf of the government, praising the elder Kim as "a great leader of the North Korean people and a dear friend to the people of China."
The twin statements highlight the growing emphasis Chinese leaders have placed on ties with North Korea despite their annoyance at the North’s refusal to reform its listless economy and its recurring provocative acts against South Korea that whip up tensions in the region.
Beijing sees North Korea as a strategic bulwark against a democratic South Korea allied with the U.S. In recent years it has become North Korea’s indispensable diplomatic protector and economic partner, accounting for the bulk of its trade, much of its investment and all of its oil. Kim was a frequent visitor to China, coming twice this year alone, most recently in August when he stopped off while returning home from Russia.
A pair of visits by Kim last year were seen as laying the foundation for the younger Kim’s succession. The elder Kim’s visits were always shrouded in secrecy, usually confirmed only after he had crossed the border — always by train — back into North Korea.
Chinese experts say they don’t anticipate any change in relations, but that Beijing will likely beef up security to guard against disorder that potentially could send millions of impoverished, starving refugees across their long border.
Chinese visitors delivered flower arrangements Tuesday to the passport office in the border city of Dandong, which lies directly across the Yalu River from the northwestern North Korean city of Sinuiju.
Otherwise, all appeared normal on the border, with tourists cruising along the North Korean bank aboard pleasure boats and trucks rumbling across the rickety bridge connecting the sides.
Dandong is the main crossing point for travelers and goods between the countries and a nearby island was designated earlier this year as the site of an experimental cross-border joint economic development zone.
China’s priorities in the wake of Kim Jong Il’s death are clear: Preserve the North Korean regime and ensure stability on the Korean peninsula at all costs. Beijing may also be hoping Kim’s death finally opens up possibilities for economic reforms that will make the North less reliant on Chinese help.
Yet, while officials exude confidence in public, government-backed scholars are far less sanguine, warning that Pyongyang is ill-prepared for a sudden change in leadership to the young and inexperienced Kim Jong Un .
Possible disorder poses consequences for China ranging from a disruption in trade and loss of political influence to floods of refugees streaming across its border. Those concerns are magnified by a lack of information and major uncertainty over how events are now unfolding in Pyongyang, a sign of how North Korea’s deeply insular hardline communist regime keeps secrets even from its closest friend.
"The situation now is very uncertain and we can’t rule out the possibility of greater turbulence in North Korea’s internal situation and foreign relations," said Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Beijing’s Renmin University.
