Soldiers with batons patrol in handling hall. There are armed police officers every few meters. Because of tighter controls, long queues are formed at entrances. For weeks, highest level of security has prevailed at Terminal 3 of Beijing International Airport. The reason: The airport has developed into a hub – for North Korea diplomacy.
Barely two weeks ago, a White House negotiating team was on its way to Pyongyang – stopover in Beijing. A few days later, North Korean party official and former Secret Service chief Kim Jong Chol flew to United States to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also with a stopover in Beijing. Then many meetings between Chinese and North Korean and also South Korean government officials.
A few days before summit on Tuesday between US president Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un runs diplomatic operation Hochtourig. Trump calls on North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons completely. The Kim regime demands a security guarantee, wants to get rid of international sanctions and hopes for economic aid.
Relations heavily burdenedThe Chinese leadership will not be represented at meeting that has already been described as historic in Singapore. But Beijing government is doing everything it can to say when North Korea and DieUSA are approaching diplomatically. This is followed by a political reorganisation of East Asian region. Not least Kim is responsible for this.
China and North Korea are historically closely allied. But North Korean nuclear and missile tests of past few years have had a heavy burden on relations with Big Bror. Since young Kim came to power five years ago, he had not paid a visit to neighbor. China, in turn, voted in UN Security Council for sanctions brought by United States against North Korea. This was a particularly hard blow for Pyongyang regime. 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade ran through China.
Then at beginning of year Kim's charm offensive came: he declared himself ready to agree to a denuclearization of Korean peninsula in principle. The opinion of what this means in concrete terms goes far apart among parties to conflict. A concrete solution is refore not to be expected on Tuesday in Singapore. But it is already a symbolic fact that a President-in-Office of United States meets with a North Korean ruler for first time. Only resulting press photos are likely to defuse conflict.
Date Of Update: 12 June 2018, 12:02
