China vows to work with North Korea to protect regional stability as tensions with Seoul escalate
Ri and Liu also agreed to strengthen inter-party coordination to boost bilateral ties.
Tensions are heightening between North Korea and US allies in the region as the nuclear-capable country ramps up weapons tests and its defiant rhetoric.
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North Korean constitution change raises threat of nuclear war as it declares South its ‘top enemy’
On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un officially declared South Korea an “invariable principal enemy” of his country, which will drop its long-standing goal to achieve peaceful unification with South Korea. Earlier this month, he also threatened to use nuclear weapons to “annihilate” the US and South Korea if provoked.
On Thursday, nuclear envoys of the US, South Korea and Japan met in Seoul, agreeing to jointly tackle challenges brought by North Korea.
North Korea has stepped up exchanges with Russia amid speculation that the two countries are providing military support to each other as tensions flare in Ukraine and the Korean peninsula.
US at UN condemns North Korean ICBM launch, as China and Russia defend ally
China has been relatively low-key about Pyongyang’s latest military developments as well as the recent exchanges between North Korea and Russia. Beijing’s close ties with the two internationally isolated nations have been closely scrutinised.
The Chinese foreign ministry on Monday called for dialogue and consultations to promote a political settlement process for Korean peninsula issues after North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile over the weekend. The missile was equipped with a hypersonic warhead believed to be able to hit US bases in Guam.