迷踪拳:金正恩派遣特使前往北京

One of Kim Jong-eun's closest aides arrived in Beijing on Wednesday at a time when North Korea's nuclear activities and belligerent rhetoric have put China's relations with its traditional ally under increased foreign scrutiny.

本周三，金正恩(Kim Jong-eun)的心腹助手之一抵达北京。目前，朝鲜的核活动和好战言论，已使其与传统盟友中国之间的关系日益受到外界关注。

Pyongyang state media said Choe Ryong-hae, vice-marshal of the Korean People's Army, had arrived in China as a "special envoy" of Mr Kim, North Korea's supreme leader. He later met Wang Jiarui, head of the international department of the Communist party of China’s central committee.

朝鲜官方媒体表示，朝鲜人民军次帅崔龙海(Choe Ryong-hae)以朝鲜最高领导人金正恩“特使”的身份抵达了中国。崔龙海后来会晤了中共中央对外联络部部长王家瑞。

Mr Choe, a boyhood friend of the late leader Kim Jong-il, was appointed to his current position last year and is regularly seen close to Kim Jong-eun during his public appearances. His visit to China is the first by a senior North Korean official since last August, when Jang Song-taek – the country's de facto second-in-command, and Mr Kim’s uncle – met the Chinese president at the time, Hu Jintao.

去年获任现今职位的崔龙海，曾是朝鲜已故领导人金正日(Kim Jong-il)的儿时伙伴。他经常在金正恩公开亮相时陪伴在其左右。崔龙海是继张成泽(Jang Song-taek)去年8月会晤中国当时的国家主席胡锦涛以来，朝鲜派出访华的第一位高级官员。张成泽是朝鲜实际上的二把手、金正恩的姑父。

But it comes at a time when the US is leaning on Beijing to put more pressure on North Korea. China supported UN Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang in January and March, in response respectively to a long-range rocket launch and nuclear warhead test.

但崔龙海访华之际，美国正在指望中国政府加大对朝施压力度。今年1月和3月，中国对联合国安理会(UN Security Council)对朝制裁措施投了赞成票，分别回应朝鲜发射远程火箭和进行核弹头试验的举动。

Official media – and many Chinese users of social messaging sites – criticised North Korea for its use of state media to issue repeated warnings of imminent war in March and April. A statement from Xi Jinping, China's new president, in April that no country should be allowed to throw the region into chaos was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Pyongyang.

今年3月和4月，中国的官方媒体和许多社交网站用户都批评朝鲜使用官方媒体不断发出战争威胁。4月，中国新任国家主席习近平发表声明称，任何国家都不能为一己之私把一个地区搞乱，这被广泛解读为对朝鲜政府的谴责。

Since the latest set of sanctions were introduced, several leading Chinese banks have said they have stopped all financial dealings with North Korea. The Bank of China said this month that it had closed the account of the Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank.

自从最近一系列制裁措施生效以来，中国几家主要的银行都表示已停止了与朝鲜的所有金融交易。中国银行(BoC)本月表示，已关闭了朝鲜主要外汇银行朝鲜外贸银行(Foreign Trade Bank)的账户。

However, analysts point out that the relationship between North Korea and China has never been warm, and that Beijing is unlikely to cut off its extensive economic support for fear of a disorderly collapse of the Pyongyang regime.

但分析人士指出，朝中关系长期以来并不友好，但中国政府出于对朝鲜政权无序垮台的担忧，不大可能切断提供给后者的广泛经济支持。

Mr Choe's arrival in Beijing came soon after the seizure of a Chinese fishing boat, allegedly by North Korean forces. Its owner, Yu Xuejun, told Chinese media that North Korea had demanded a ransom for the release of the boat and its 16 crew, but they were later set free.

在崔龙海到访北京前不久，一艘中国渔船据称遭到朝方军队的扣押。该船船主于学君对中国媒体表示，朝方曾要求中方先支付一笔赎金再释放该船及16名船员，但他们后来获得了释放。