DATE=10/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-NORTH KOREA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254706
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:   Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan is in 
North Korea, in an effort to shore up ties with 
Beijing's secretive communist neighbor, amid a 
changing security situation in Northeast Asia.  VOA 
correspondent Roger Wilkison reports diplomats in 
Beijing say Mr. Tang wants to get a grasp on where 
North Korean foreign policy is headed, following an 
agreement between Pyongyang and Washington that lifts 
some U-S sanctions in exchange for a moratorium on 
North Korean missile-testing.

TEXT:  China and North Korea are old allies, having 
fought together in the Korean War.  But their ties 
were frayed in recent years by Beijing's decision to 
dump communist ideology and open up its economy and by 
China's establishment of diplomatic relations with 
South Korea in 1992.
  
Mr. Tang is not only the first Chinese foreign 
minister to visit Pyongyang in eight years, he is also 
the highest-ranking Chinese official to go there since 
the 1994 death of North Korean President Kim Il Sung.

The ostensible purpose of Mr. Tang's visit is to 
celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the 
two neighboring states.  Leaders of both countries 
have exchanged congratulatory messages and pledged to 
further improve ties.
  
But diplomats in Beijing say China is concerned that 
Pyongyang is not keeping it informed about its moves 
in the world arena.

One diplomat with contacts in both capitals says the 
North Koreans did not brief China on their agreement 
with the United States last month, until after the 
fact.

The diplomat says China -as a participant in the  
occasional four-party talks that discuss reducing 
tensions on the Korean Peninsula - is as concerned as 
any other country about North Korea's nuclear and 
missile programs.  In the words of the diplomat, China 
will stand by North Korea, but does not want its ally 
to become a destabilizing factor in the region.

China's concerns are heightened by U-S moves to study 
the development and deployment of a theater missile 
defense system, or TMD for short, in East Asia.

Japan, which has said it will collaborate on the 
study, was shaken last year by the launch of a North 
Korean ballistic missile.  That test, coupled with a 
suspected nuclear program, has spurred a tightening of 
the defense relationship between Washington and Tokyo.

Asian diplomats say Beijing does not want North Korea 
to make any further belligerent moves because it fears 
above all that, in a climate of regional uncertainty, 
Washington might be tempted to extend TMD to Taiwan, 
which China has vowed to reincorporate by force, if 
need be.

Diplomats generally agree that China would prefer 
North Korea to concentrate on repairing its shattered 
economy, which has been hard-hit in recent years by 
famine-causing natural disasters and mismanagement.

Still, no one is sure just how much clout Beijing has 
with Pyongyang.  And the tight control exercised by 
both governments over their news media means little, 
if anything, is likely to be revealed about the 
details of Mr. Tang's discussions with his North 
Korean hosts.  (signed)

NEB/RW/FC/PLM



06-Oct-1999 06:24 AM EDT (06-Oct-1999 1024 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.