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Li Zhanshu (right), Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People‘s Congress, shakes hands with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea at the National People‘s Congress in Beijing on Sept. 2. Li is expected to visit North Korea on Sept. 8 as a special envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Yonhap News)
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Third most powerful Chinese official will visit NK, but Xi Jinping will not
Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People's Congress, will be visiting North Korea as a special envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping to congratulate the North on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its government on Sept. 9. This means that while Li, the third-most powerful person in the Chinese government, will be attending the festival, Xi himself will not. China Central Television (CCTV) reported on the evening of Sept. 4 that the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) had announced that Li Zhanshu would be leading a delegation to Pyongyang on Sept. 8 to celebrate North Korea’s Day of the Foundation of the Republic, which falls on Sept. 9. This is the highest-ranking Chinese figure to visit the North since Kim Jong-un came to power there. The story was also carried on North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA): “At the invitation of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Comrade Li Zhanshu, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People’s Republic of China, will be leading a delegation representing the party and the government of the People’s Republic of China, in the capacity of a special envoy of Comrade Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President of the People’s Republic of China, to visit North Korea on Sept. 8 to attend the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” There had been continuing speculation that Xi Jinping might visit North Korea for the festivities on Sept. 9, but he ultimately decided against the visit, under pressure because of the impasse in North Korea-US relations following the recent delay of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the North and China’s continuing trade dispute with the US. China appears to be trying to forestall any discontent from Kim by sending Li, who occupies the third-highest rung in the Chinese government. Prior to this, the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit North Korea since the accession of Kim Jong-un was Liu Yunshan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who was ranked fifth in the government at the time. Liu attended a military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Workers’ Party of Korea that was held in Pyongyang in Oct. 2015. By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
