North's Kim mends fences with China?

F.J. Khergamvala

TOKYO, JAN. 21. North Korea's leader, Mr. Kim Jong Il, may have finally mended fences with China through the practical certification of the communist giant as a system that had preserved the stability of a Communist Party, yet achieved great strides in industry without rocking the system.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry called a special press conference late evening on Saturday to announce that Mr. Kim had returned to Pyongyang after a visit to China from January 15 to January 20. The spokesman added that, ``General Secretary Kim Jong Il emphasised that the earth-shaking and huge changes in China, and especially Shanghai since reform and opening up adequately prove that the reform and opening policy adopted by the Chinese Communist Party was correct.''

There is far more importance that is attached to this statement than the snap-shot that has been portrayed by the news agencies. It signals a claim by Beijing that Mr. Kim had changed his opinion from one of deep condemnation of ``revisionist'' China to great appreciation. Though one is unable to understand the need of a weekend evening press conference, the boast that even conservative North Korea had given its stamp of approval to China's reforms is perhaps meant for the years of China's own conservatives who are set against the pace, if not the full content of economic opening.

Mr. Kim's visit took some time to arrange and time may tell that it may actually have been intended to balance a ``should have been'' visit to Pyongyang by Mr. Bill Clinton for signing a missiles related agreement. When Ms. Madeleine Albright was in the North's capital, Pyongyang sent positive signals to Beijing by hosting the Chinese Defence Minister at the same time to highlight an enduring alliance.

It is less widely known that Mr. Kim has not been a fan of post Mao Zedong Chinese reforms. Relations at the top were strained since 1991 after Beijing formally established diplomatic ties with South Korea. Mr. Kim's second in command, Mr. Kim Yong- nam, the head of the Supreme Peoples Assembly, visited China in June 1999. This was the first high level exchange in eight years between the two countries. Earlier, he was under orders not to be entertained by Chinese officials in the VIP lounge during a halt in the Chinese capital on his trips beyond. In 1999, on the day of the Tiananmen anniversary, Mr. Kim Yong-nam called on China's President, Mr. Jiang Zemin, and then met Mr. Zhu Rongji, the two pro reformists.

Then followed Mr. Kim Jong Il's visit to Beijing in May 1999. In contrast to a Xinhua press release of Saturday, which sounds like a formal communique, not much common cause was suggested after that visit. China had made overtures to Mr. Kim to visit Beijing but the latter seemed not to be ready for various reasons. A China that has been the only country in the world to gallop at an arguable near eight per cent growth for over 13 years hardly needs a certificate from recluse North Korea.

Mr. Kim's father, the late Kim Il Sung, visited Beijing annually by train for consultations. It now appears Mr. Kim might resume the practice. Earlier, Pyongyang politely rejected suggestions to emulate the Chinese model. Mr. Kim's comment was that the reforms ``suited China's national conditions and are in the interest of the Chinese people.''

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : First account of Kabila's murder