美国有线新闻 CNN 诺奖获得者马拉拉离乡6年首返巴基斯坦 朝韩首脑会谈时间地点确定

 

For the first time in almost six years, Malala Yousafzai has returned to her home country of Pakistan. The 20-year-old winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is known around the world as Malala.

She spent most of her life advocating for girls' rights to an education, but that's something that the Taliban, a terrorist group that operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan has tried to prevent. They attempted to assassinate Malala in 2012, but she survived the shooting. And afterwards, she continued her own education, as well as her fight for children's rights worldwide.

There was a lot of security when she visited Pakistan early Thursday. Some people there see her as a hero. Others see her as an agitator, who should be silenced. But here visit defied Taliban threats to attack her again and fulfill her dream of touching the ground of home.

There'd been a whirlwind of changes on and around the Korean peninsula, since the lines of communication between North and South Korea open back up before the Olympics. April 27th is the date when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are scheduled to meet at the demilitarized zone, the border between their nations.

It will be the first face to face between Korean leaders in more than a decade and it follows this week's surprise visit by North Korea's dictator to China. That's a nation whose relationship with North Korea has been significant if not always harmonious.

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It just to be said that the relationship between China and North Korea was as close as lips and teeth.

China has always been North Korea's staunchest ally since Kim Jong-un's grandfather Kim Il-sung established the totalitarian state back in 1948.

It has provided economic life support, ideological backing and support for North Korea on the international stage. In return, communist North Korea has served Beijing as a buffer between China and South Korea, saving China from the prospect of U.S. troops on its land border.

But the relationship has been fraying since Kim Jong-un assumed power in 2011. He has repeatedly angered Beijing with nuclear bomb and ballistic missile test that led to a dangerous, potentially military confrontation with the United States.

Beijing's calls for restraint and dialogue were largely ignored by Kim. Indeed some of North Korea's test looked like they were deliberately provocative to Beijing.

But the recent frosty relations are starting to thaw. Diplomacy is now front and center on the Korean peninsula. The isolated Kim needs the support of Beijing and reportedly says he's ready to put denuclearization on the table.

His country has been hit hard by international sanctions. And with more than 90 percent of North Korean's foreign trade, including its life blood oil going through China, Kim needs their backing.

For China, it wants to assert its role in any future negotiations on the Korean peninsula. Beijing's bottom line remains denuclearization, but it also wants to see Kim's regime stay intact. The alternative is unthinkable — a collapsed North Korea with millions of refugees flooding into the country. Or a reunited Korea with U.S. influence stretching right up to its border. There's too much at stake for either side to walk away from each other.