During a high-profile visit to Beijing, the EU's foreign policy chief has urged cooperation in reducing tensions with North Korea. She described China and the EU as "global powers" with a shared responsibility.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Schiefelbein
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Wrapping up a three-day visit to Beijing, the EU's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, on Thursday said the EU and China shared responsibility for tackling disorder within the international community and building a rules-based order.
Speaking at China's prestigious Tsinghua University, Mogherini told students that rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worldwide implications, warning that a crisis with North Korea "will have a global fallout."
China and the EU have a "common responsibility and an interest to avoid a military escalation in the Korean Peninsula, to push for North Korea to abide by its international obligations and re-engage with the international community," Mogherini said.
Tensions have flared in the Korean Peninsula since US President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of a naval attack group off the Korean Peninsula, prompting threats of "all-out war" from Pyongyang.
Mogherini on Wednesday addressed the need for China and the EU to work together "in times of growing tensions and geopolitical unpredictability."
"China and the European Union are global powers: we have a joint responsibility to work together towards a more cooperative, rules-based global order," Mogherini said.
A journey along the border of China and North Korea
The Yalu River region at the border of China and North Korea is a traditional tourist attraction, but business lately hasn't been booming. A team of Reuters photojournalists explored the area.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
The bridge to nowhere
A tourist attraction in the Chinese border city of Dandong is the old bridge over the Yalu, which was damaged by US bombs during the Korean War. On the North Korean side the remains were demolished, but on the Chinese side, the bridge was preserved as a memorial. A few meters away is the so-called "Sino-Korean friendship bridge," over which goods are transported between the two countries.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
A symbolic connection
The preserved Chinese section of the Yalu Bridge is open for tourists. In 2015, a new bridge called the "New Yalu Bridge" was completed. The 350-million-dollar project was completely financed by China and completed in only three years. There is only one problem - there is no traffic going over the bridge as the North Korean side ends abruptly in farmland without any connection to roads.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
Ambitious plans and harsh reality
The city of Sinuiju lies on the North Korean bank of the Yalu River with a population of around 400,000. As an important transportation hub, along with the Sino-Korean friendship bridge, Sinuiju has had its own harbor for 100 years. A highway and rail connection to the capital Pyongyang is also being planned, which if completed would significantly facilitate flow of traffic across the border.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
'Touch' a small piece of North Korea
For tourists on the Chinese side, a quick look at everyday life for people in North Korea is especially interesting. For example, this picture taken in March shows the resources used by North Korean farmers near Sinuiju.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
A sneak peek at a reclusive land
This Chinese man earns a few yuan by charging tourists to look at North Korea through his telescopes. The isolated country will then appear to only be a stone's throw away.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
Souvenirs for sale next to barbed wire
For those who want something to remember their trip by, Chinese souvenir hawkers sell their goods with a view of North Korea included for free.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
North Korea is also on the menu
North Korean influence can be found everywhere in the border city of Dandong. The country also runs numerous restaurants for prestige purposes. This is also a source of money for the regime in Pyongyang.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
Icy relations
Relations between North Korea and its most important partner, China, have significantly deteriorated since the North's fourth nuclear test in 2016. Unlike in the past, Beijing supported the increasing of UN sanctions in response to the tests. And in response to recent North Korean missile tests, China stopped coal imports from the country in February.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
A sputtering economic engine
China and North Korea are very intent on significantly expanding economic relations in the border region, but the Reuters team found little evidence of this currently happening. These luxury apartments in Dandong may be finished - but they are accompanied by numerous half-completed buildings and construction sites. And the planned special economic zone has also yet to open.
Image: Reuters/D. Sagolj
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Europe on the 'New Silk Road'
Since 2012, Brussels has pursued a bilateral investment treaty with China that would provide European companies easier access to Chinese markets. The EU has also sought to replace existing bilateral deals between China and EU nations with one overarching agreement.
"The European Union and China have one of the world's biggest trade and investment relationships and our partnership has an increasingly global dimension that goes beyond the bilateral one," Mogherini said.
On Thursday, the EU's foreign policy chief went on to call for China to open opportunities for European enterprises in Beijing's ambitious "One Belt, One Initiative" project.
The project, which imagines an overland and maritime "New Silk Road" linking Asia, Africa and Europe, has been championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Over the past year, Beijing has doubled-down on globalization, a stark contrast to Trump's apparent protectionism.
"Obviously, for us, it is essential that the opportunities are opened up for all, including Europeans," Mogherini said.
"I know that some in the world are concerned about a more confident and outward-looking China. I do not share this view," she added.
