Japan monitors Xi-Kim summit as China and North Korea deepen ties
Tokyo fears tighter defence links between Beijing, Pyongyang and Moscow could sharpen regional threats as officials study Monday’s talks.
- Japan is concerned that closer military ties between China and North Korea could worsen its national security environment.
- Tokyo is actively gathering intelligence on the summit, focusing on whether North Korea's nuclear weapons development was discussed.
- The lack of any mention of denuclearization after the meeting has raised fears in Japan that China may now tolerate North Korea's nuclear arsenal.
- Japanese officials view potential trilateral military cooperation between China, North Korea, and Russia as a major threat that would increase Japan's surveillance burden.
Japan is moving cautiously after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s latest visit to Pyongyang, amid concern in Tokyo that closer military ties between China and North Korea could further worsen the security environment around Japan.
Japanese officials believe the threat would become more serious if North Korea expands defence cooperation with China on top of its growing military links with Russia.
Tokyo is now rushing to gather and analyse intelligence on whether Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un discussed Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development during their summit on Monday, June 8.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara avoided giving a direct assessment on Tuesday of how the Xi-Kim meeting could affect the situation in Asia.
However, he said the government was “collecting and analysing relevant information with serious interest”.
“We will work closely with the international community, including the United States and South Korea,” Japan’s top government spokesman added.
Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang had been tense in recent years, largely because of North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive and its strengthening military relationship with Russia.
The relationship began to improve after Kim travelled to China last September.
At Monday’s summit, Xi told Kim that China hoped to maintain close strategic communication with North Korea.
For Japan, any deeper military cooperation among China, North Korea and Russia is seen as almost certain to increase the threats it faces, given that it is surrounded by all three countries.
“Japan’s burden of surveillance in the Sea of Japan will increase considerably,” a senior Japanese Defence Ministry official said.
Another government source described potential cooperation between China, Russia and North Korea as “a geopolitical game changer”.
Beijing has previously called for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, but a document released after the Xi-Kim meeting made no mention of denuclearisation.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that China has changed its stance and now tolerates North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons,” a Japanese government source said.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said the omission had not come as a surprise: “It was within expectations that the document would have no reference to denuclearisation.”
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
