China hopes for implementation of NKorea-US summit outcome

Chinese President Xi Jinping told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday he hopes Pyongyang and Washington can fully implement the outcome of last week's nuclear summit at which Kim pledged to work toward denuclearization in exchange for U.S. security guarantees.

FILE - In this June 12, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Chinese state media say North Korean leader Kim will make a two-day state visit starting Tuesday, June 19. Kim's trip follows his groundbreaking summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore last week that resulted in a surprise announcement of a U.S. suspension of military drills with its South Korean ally.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

State broadcaster CCTV said Xi told Kim that through the "concerted efforts of the relevant countries" negotiations regarding issues on the Korean Peninsula are back on track and the overall situation is moving in the direction of peace and stability.

The summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore marked an "important step toward the political solution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue," Xi was quoted as saying in the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

China hopes North Korea and the U.S. can "implement well the outcomes achieved at the summit," Xi said. China would "as always play a constructive role" in that process, he said.

The motorcade that is believed be carrying North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, passes by policemen as it leaves the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chinese state media say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a two-day state visit starting Tuesday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Along with a statement signed by Kim and Trump offering vague commitments to denuclearization and security, Trump also agreed to suspend military exercises with South Korea in what was seen as a major win for North Korea and its chief allies, China and Russia.

Kim's two-day visit to China, which began Tuesday, had not been announced in advance but was expected as part of the Communist neighbors' tradition to report to each other on major developments.

The visit is Kim's third to China since March, highlighting China's crucial role in efforts by the U.S. and others to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program. The U.S. has long looked to China to use its influence with North Korea to bring it to negotiations, but the visit comes as ties between Beijing and Washington are being tested by a major trade dispute.

A stretch limousine with a golden emblem similar to one North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used previously, arrives with motorcycle escorts and guard of honor salute at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chinese state media say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a two-day visit to Beijing starting Tuesday following his groundbreaking summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore last week. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

CCTV showed Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, being welcomed by Xi with full military honors. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, later hosted Kim and Ri at a banquet, CCTV reported.

China's official Xinhua News Agency announced the North Korean leader's visit shortly after he apparently landed Tuesday morning, dispensing with the secrecy shrouding previous trips to China by Kim and his father and predecessor, Kim Jong Il.

Paramilitary policemen and policemen seal off a road near the main entrance gate of the VIP gate of Beijing Capital International Airport as they preparing for the arrival of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in Beijing, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chinese state media say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a two-day visit to Beijing starting Tuesday following his groundbreaking summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore last week. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

On the younger Kim's first visit to China as leader, he took an armored train as his father had. His first two trips were not announced until after he had safely returned to North Korea.

Xi "is exerting a lot of influence from behind the scenes," said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"I expect they will talk about the path going forward and where priorities should lie," Glaser said. Those priorities, from China's perspective, would be to ensure that Beijing is included in any peace treaty talks and in creating an environment on the Korean Peninsula that will make it unnecessary for U.S. troops to remain.

Paramilitary policemen and policemen stand guard at the main entrance gate of the VIP gate of Beijing Capital International Airport as they prepare for the arrival of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in Beijing, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chinese state media say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a two-day visit to Beijing starting Tuesday following his groundbreaking summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore last week. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Kim is likely hoping to get China's support for relief from punishing U.N. sanctions.

At a regularly scheduled briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Tuesday that Beijing supported Russia's calls last week for unilateral sanctions on North Korea — ones that aren't imposed within the United Nations framework — to be canceled immediately.

"China always stands against the so-called unilateral sanctions outside the Security Council framework. This position is very clear and we believe sanctions themselves are not the end," Geng said.

A stretch limousine with a golden emblem similar to one North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used previously, arrives with motorcycle escorts and guard of honor salute at the Diaoyutai State Guest house in Beijing, China, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chinese state media say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will make a two-day visit to Beijing starting Tuesday following his groundbreaking summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore last week. (Kyodo News via AP)

While Beijing and Moscow have supported U.N. restrictions, they bristle at Washington imposing sanctions on its own to pressure North Korea.

Trump's surprise announcement in Singapore of a U.S. suspension of military drills with its South Korean ally fulfills a goal long pursued by North Korea and its primary backers China and Russia. That move is seen as potentially weakening defenses and diplomacy among America's Asian allies, while bolstering China and Russia.

The U.S. has stationed combat troops in South Korea since the Korean War, in which China fought on North Korea's side and which ended in 1953 with an armistice and no peace treaty.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Kim's visit to China highlights the "constructive role" Beijing could play in disarming North Korea.

Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk also downplayed concerns that improving relations between China and North Korea could result in loosened Chinese sanctions against North Korea.

People bicycle past a giant TV screen broadcasting the meeting of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Kim is making a two-day visit to Beijing starting Tuesday and is expected to discuss with Chinese leaders his next steps after his nuclear summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last week. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies in Beijing, said it was significant that Chinese state broadcaster CCTV announced Kim's visit before his return home.

"This is an improvement. This shows that China is moving toward a healthier and more normal direction in relations with North Korea," Cheng said. He added that the frequency of Kim's visits — three so far this year — was "unprecedented."

Yang Mu-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Kim's visits show the recent chill in the two countries' ties over Kim's development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles had fully lifted.

People bicycle past a giant TV screen broadcasting the meeting of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

"I believe that indicates that the blood alliance between the North and China has been completely restored," Yang said.

Washington has long pressed Beijing to use its influence to compel North Korea into negotiations, but Kim's visit comes as a dispute over the large trade imbalance between China and the U.S. has been escalating, moving them closer to a potential trade war.

That could make it less attractive for China to use its influence over North Korea to help the U.S. achieve its objectives of denuclearization.

"The potential comprehensive trade war will make the cooperation between China and U.S. in North Korea's nuclear issue more complicated," Cheng said. "There will be a big question mark over whether China and the U.S. will continue this cooperation."

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Even amid war, Ukraine finds time for the glittery, pop-filled Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps now even more than ever.

Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition — the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil — set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden.

“We need to be visible for the world,” Heil told The Associated Press at Kyiv train station before her departure. “We need to show that even now, during the war, our culture is developing, and that Ukrainian music is something waiting for the world” to discover.

“We have to spread it and share it and show people how strong (Ukrainian) women and men are in our country,” added alyona, who spells her name with all lower case letters.

Ukraine has long used Eurovision as a form of cultural diplomacy, a way of showing the world the country’s unique sound and style. That mission became more urgent after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Ukraine existed as a distinct country and people before Soviet times.

Ukrainian singer Jamala won the contest in 2016 — two years after Russia illegally seized the Crimean Peninsula — with a song about the expulsion of Crimea’s Tatars by Stalin in 1944. Folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra took the Eurovision title in 2022 with “Stefania,” a song about the frontman’s mother that became an anthem to the war-ravaged motherland, with a haunting refrain on a traditional Ukrainian wind instrument.

Alyona and Heil will perform “Maria & Teresa,” an anthemic ode to inspiring women. The title refers to Mother Theresa and the Virgin Mary, and the lyrics include the refrain, in English: “All the divas were born as the human beings” — people we regard as saints were once flawed and human like the rest of us.

Heil said the message is that “we all make mistakes, but your actions are what define you.”

And, alyona added: “with enough energy you can win the war, you can change the world.”

The song blends alyona’s punchy rap style with Heil’s soaring melody and distinctly Ukrainian vocal style.

“Alyona is a great rapper, she has this powerful energy,” Heil said. “And I’m more soft.”

“But great melodies,” alyona added. “So she creates all the melodies and I just jump in.”

Ukraine has been at the forefront of turning Eurovision from a contest dominated by English-language pop songs to a more diverse and multilingual event. Jamala sang part of her song in the Crimean Tatar language, while Kalush Orchestra sang and rapped in Ukrainian.

Ukraine’s Eurovision win in 2022 brought the country the right to host the following year, but because of the war the 2023 contest was held in the English city of Liverpool, which was bedecked in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags for the occasion — a celebration of Ukraine’s spirit and culture.

Thirty-seven countries from across Europe and beyond — including Israel and Australia — will compete in Malmö in two Eurovision semifinals May 7 and 9, followed by a May 11 final. Ukraine currently ranks among bookmakers’ top five favorites alongside the likes of singer Nemo from Switzerland and Croatian singer-songwriter Baby Lasagna.

Russia, a long-time Eurovision competitor, was kicked out of the contest over the invasion.

The Ukrainian duo caught a train after holding a news conference where they announced a fundraising drive for a school destroyed by a Russian strike.

The duo is joining with charity fundraising platform United 24 to raise 10 million hryvnia (about $250,000) to rebuild a school in the village of Velyka Kostromka in southern Ukraine that was destroyed by a Russian rocket in October 2022. The school’s 250 pupils have been unable to attend class since then, relying on online learning.

Teacher Liudmyla Taranovych, whose children and grandchildren went to the school, said its destruction brought feelings of “pain, despair, hopelessness.”

"My grandchildren hugged me and asked, “Grandma, will they rebuild our school? Will it be as beautiful, flourishing, and bright as it was?” she said.

From the rubble, another teacher managed to rescue one of the school’s treasured possessions — a large wooden key traditionally presented to first grade students to symbolize that education is the key to their future. It has become a sign of hope for the school.

Alyona and Heil have also embraced the key as a symbol, wearing T-shirts covered in small metal housekeys.

“It’s a symbol of something which maybe some people in Ukraine won’t have, because so many people lost their homes,” Heil said. “But they’re holding these keys in their pockets, and they're holding the hope.”

Two girls dance as Ukraine's song entrance in the Eurovision contest is played at the main train station, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil, left, and rapper alyona alyona pose for a photograph during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil says goodbye to her parents before departing at the main train station, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil, left, and rapper alyona alyona perform a song in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukrainian singers Jerry Heil, right, and rapper alyona alyona arrive to catch a train at the main station, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Ukrainian rapper alyona alyona, left, and singer Jerry Heil hold the Ukrainian flag as they pose for the media before departing from the main train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)