Liu Xiaoming, China’s special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, told South Korean reporters at Seoul’s main airport on Sunday that the Chinese government was concerned about escalating tensions between the two Koreas, adding that Beijing felt that both the symptoms and the root causes of the tensions needed to be addressed.

In his brief remarks, Liu insisted that there were “legitimate and reasonable concerns [for] all parties” and that upcoming negotiations should be targeted toward resolving them. The Chinese representative is in Seoul for a new round of negotiations between North and South Korean diplomats, although little progress is expected. Liu argued that China could play a “positive role” in the upcoming rounds of diplomacy, although he did not specify what actions Beijing could take to incentivize participation from either side.

“We call on all parties to stay cool-headed and exercise restraint,” Liu wrote in Chinese on Twitter after the meeting. “We disapprove [of] actions by any party that could escalate tension.”

The upcoming negotiations are taking place after a series of North Korean missile tests throughout the first half of 2022. In recent months, Pyongyang has fired intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, thought to be nuclear-capable and with enough range to strike the United States. It also claims to have tested a hypersonic missile, although this claim is still being evaluated in the West.

Western observers have speculated that North Korea intends to test a nuclear weapon in the near future, as it has not conducted such a test since 2017. 

Liu’s visit to Seoul is his first trip to South Korea since he assumed his current position in mid-2021. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to meet with South Korean diplomat Noh Kyu-duk, the country’s “Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs,” responsible for denuclearization efforts on the peninsula. It is also predicted that he will meet with representatives of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who is scheduled to take office next week.

Since the inauguration of former President Donald Trump in 2017, relations between North Korea and the United States have remained highly charged. Although Trump held a series of meetings with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, they failed to substantially improve the relationship, and efforts under President Joe Biden have been similarly unsuccessful.

The lion’s share of North Korean imports come from China, and it is traditionally regarded as a Chinese client state, although relations between Chinese and North Korean leadership have reportedly deteriorated in recent years.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.