» 02/01/2012 15:32 NORTH KOREA – CHINA Thousands of lorries carry Chinese rice to North Korea Thousands of lorries carrying tonnes of rice cross the border, a South Korean activist said. This shows that Beijing is backing the new leader. Feat of instability on its border is the main reason.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – China apparently delivered a large amount of rice and other aid to impoverished North Korea in what appears to be a decision to back North Korea’s new dictator.
Lorries were seen delivering tonnes of rice into North Korea in early January, said Do Hee-Yoon, a representative of the Seoul-based Citizen's Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees. Cold and hunger are a major problem in North Korea.
According to Tokyo’s Shimbun newspaper, Beijing pledged to give North Korea a half a million tonnes of food aid, last month. The decision was made in a meeting chaired by Chinese President Hu Jintao; the day after Pyongyang announced that Kim Jong-il had died.
For ten days prior to 23 January, Chinese New Year, lorries shuttled across the Sino-Korean border.
Pictures of the deliveries were apparently taken from inside a taxi on 12 January at customs stations in Tumen, on the Chinese side of the border, by a member of a research team sent by the Citizen’s Coalition.
For Do Hee-Yoon, the delivery was relatively quick, but doing it this time of year was a rare event. However, it is a sign of Beijing’s support for North Korea’s young and inexperienced leader after the sudden death of his father.
China especially wants to prevent instability in North Korea prior to its own change of leadership set for next March.
