Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, in Beijing on Sunday, weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to China to attend an event marking the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.

“China is willing to strengthen coordination and collaboration with North Korea on international and regional affairs, oppose all forms of hegemonism, and protect their shared interests and international fairness and justice,” Wang told Choe, according to a readout from the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Choe, in turn, told Wang that North Korea viewed China’s concept of a “community with a shared future for mankind” and its Global Governance Initiative as important contributions to promoting a multipolar world, according to the ministry.

 “North Korea strongly supports these initiatives and is willing to work closely with China in multilateral collaboration to jointly resist unilateralism and power politics, and to promote the establishment of a more equitable and just world order,” Choe said, according to the readout. “North Korea also wishes the Chinese people greater achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of China through unity and struggle.”

 Choe also cited Kim as saying that the “bonds of friendship” between Pyongyang and Beijing “cannot be altered,” and that their ties should be developed “in line with the demands of the times,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

 Beijing remains locked in a fierce rivalry with Washington, spanning sectors from trade to artificial intelligence. Pyongyang, meanwhile, has long clashed with the US over its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The talks between Wang and Choe came shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea’s Kim, and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared together at a military parade earlier this month marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. (Aljazeera)