Pyongyang (AsiaNews) – Close relations between China and North Korea will stay “unchanged no matter how much water flows under the bridge and no matter how frequently a generation is replaced by another,” North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il told a visiting high-level Chinese delegation during a state dinner in Pyongyang to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sino-North Korean friendship treaty.
Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang led the Chinese delegation. He praised Kim's efforts to boost bilateral cooperation and promised that Beijing will push forward on the wide-ranging agreements reached by the two countries' leaders.
Kim Jong-un, the dear leader’s third son and heir, was present at the dinner (pictured).
The dinner itself is important because it comes at a special historical moment. China, which is North Korea’s only trading partner, has been pushing Pyongyang in recent months towards economic and social reforms, going so far as to threaten to cut off aid to the impoverished nation.
To avoid disaster, Kim Jong-il made a surprise visit to the Chinese capital in May to show his plans of reform for North Korea.
Sources indicate that Chinese leaders have told the North Korean strongman to open special economic zones, like those set up by Deng Xiaoping. A few weeks later, Kim authorised the creation of one such zone where the Chinese and North Koreans are working together.
Despite food shortages across the country, the Chinese delegation, Korean papers report, was treated to a 20-course lavish dinner paid by the North Korean government in one of Pyongyang’s rare (and old-fashioned) luxury restaurants, this in a country where 90 per cent of the population lives below the absolute poverty line.
Despite widespread poverty, China and North Korea “forever united” at a state dinner
Kim Jong-il and his heir Jong-un treat a high-level Chinese delegation to a 20-course meal to reassert the relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang. Meanwhile, North Korea’s reforms stumble along whilst the people starve to death.
