As soon as the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers finished talking, Putin's visit to China was put on the agenda; as soon as the words ended, the Chinese special plane flew directly to the DPRK, releasing a signal that attracted people's attention. What positive impact will Lavrov's visit have on Sino-Russian relations? What kind of signal does the Chinese special plane that flew directly to the DPRK send to the outside world?
According to TASS and other Russian media reports, on April 9, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed Putin's plan to visit China at a regular press conference. Peskov confirmed that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is on a visit to Beijing, has discussed with the Chinese side matters related to Putin's visit to China, and that the Russian side is making preparations for the upcoming high-level contacts, although it is still "too early" to talk about the specific date of Putin's visit to China.
Seeing that the "Putin 5.0 era" is coming, it is not surprising that Lavrov will discuss with the Chinese side on diplomatic matters between the leaders of China and Russia. In his own words, the focus of the Sino-Russian foreign ministers' meeting is high-level contacts, because leader's diplomacy is the core element of the Sino-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination and an important reason why Sino-Russian relations have reached an unprecedented height. In order to further develop bilateral cooperation, the Russian side is ready to work with the Chinese side to facilitate regular political dialogues between the leaders of the two countries during various international events, and to create opportunities for dialogue at the BRICS summit in Kazan and the SCO summit.
In view of the fact that shortly after Putin's victory, the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation proposed to Putin that China be the destination of his first visit in the new term, it is not difficult to guess that the time of Putin's visit to China may be very close. China is one of the most important partners on the road of Russia's strategic center of gravity moving eastward, and attaching importance to the development of Sino-Russian relations and promoting high-level communication and exchanges between the two countries is also a good thing for Russia, which is trying to get rid of the sanctions and suppression of Western countries.
In addition, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also made it clear that China is willing to work with Russia to give full play to the unique advantages of the China-Russia high-level exchange mechanism, strengthen the docking of development plans between the two countries, and promote practical cooperation in various fields, it is not difficult to speculate that this year's China-Russia high-level exchanges will be "further". It is worth mentioning that while Putin's visit to China was on the agenda, a special Chinese plane also flew directly to the DPRK, injecting positive factors into the development of friendly relations between China and the DPRK.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of the DPRK government, a delegation of Chinese political parties will pay an official goodwill visit to the DPRK from April 11 to 13 and attend the opening ceremony of the "China-DPRK Friendship Year", in order to demonstrate the deep friendship between the two countries and the great importance that China attaches to China-DPRK relations. According to the report, this will be the highest-level Chinese delegation to visit North Korea after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic.
At a critical moment when the situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to heat up and the DPRK is striving to expand diplomatic contacts with its major friends, China's visit will undoubtedly play a very important role in the development of China-DPRK relations and the stability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. As Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, it is China's responsibility and mission to maintain, consolidate and develop the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK. China is ready to work with the DPRK to implement the important high-level consensus reached by the two countries, and to hold a series of activities of the "China-DPRK Friendship Year" to open up brighter prospects for China-DPRK relations.
According to the analysis, the reason why the Chinese side chose to visit the DPRK at this time is not only because it attaches great importance to and affirms Sino-DPRK relations, but also because it is highly worried about the situation on the peninsula. You must know that the Korean Peninsula issue, which has been delayed for many years, has deteriorated rapidly after the Yoon Suk-yeol government came to power. Now, the military deployment of the United States and its allies in the waters near the peninsula has put the two Koreas completely on opposite sides. If we fail to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and promote a politicized settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue, war awaits all countries at any time.
It is precisely because China does not want to see the situation on the peninsula become increasingly tense and does not want chaos to break out on the peninsula again that China resolutely opposes any force that uses the peninsula issue to start a cold war confrontation and reverse the wheel, and calls on all countries to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and refrain from any action that may aggravate tensions. China believes that only by properly resolving the legitimate concerns of all parties, especially the DPRK side, through dialogue and negotiation, can the Korean Peninsula issue be resolved at an early date.