North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s latest message of reassurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, coming shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang, constitutes a form of strategic hedging, according to observers. The letter suggested that Pyongyang-Moscow ties were evolving beyond a largely transactional relationship into a firm military alliance, even as North Korea sought to rekindle its traditional “blood alliance” with China, they said. In a congratulatory message...
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea this week helped to improve Kim Jong-un’s international standing and gave him a “big strategic win”, analysts said. Pyongyang has become increasingly close to Russia in recent years and has sent thousands of troops to support its war against Ukraine, but Xi’s visit reinforced the long-standing economic and cultural ties between China and North Korea. It was the Chinese leader’s first foreign trip of the year and came less than a month after he...
Even Western pundits grudgingly admitted the summit between President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was a success. Both sides, according to Bloomberg, “appear to have walked away with what they wanted”. Given China’s rising pre-eminence while avoiding any damaging war, it’s no surprise that Xi had the upper hand in his recent meetings with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But with Kim, the stakes for Beijing were just as high, in light of Tokyo’s...
North Korea is gaining in strategic importance for China to counter the United States, but Pyongyang may refrain from intensifying military ties with Beijing, analysts say. During his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said both sides should “enhance exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement and military affairs”, according to state news agency Xinhua. Despite pledges from both sides to strengthen strategic communications, denuclearisation of the...
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea may have helped cement China’s “indispensable” role in ensuring regional stability and highlighted its importance to his host’s economy, analysts said. The Chinese president wrapped up his visit on Tuesday afternoon after reaching what he said was a “critical consensus” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Xi told a lunch at the Kumsusan State Guest House that he was ready to work with Kim to to “jointly guide China-North Korea relations...
Chinese President Xi Jinping has returned to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan State Guest House, the highly secluded counterpart to Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House. Xi began a two-day state visit to North Korea on Monday. He was welcomed at the airport by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, before attending a welcoming ceremony at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Square and then heading on to the guest house. The guest house, completed in 2019, was first publicly used during Xi’s visit to North Korea that...
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing’s commitment to North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un was “unwavering ” on Monday. The trip is Xi’s first foreign visit of the year, and during his talks with Kim in afternoon, Xi expressed strong support for the North Korean leader. “No matter how the international situation changes, the firm stance of the Chinese [Communist] Party and government in highly valuing the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of...
A cheering crowd dressed in festive attire welcomes the Chinese leader at Pyongyang's main square.
China’s President Xi Jinping received a colourful welcome in Pyongyang as he began his two-day state visit to North Korea, his first in seven years. After landing at the airport, where Xi and first lady Peng Liyuan were welcomed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju with a handshake, the Chinese leader was escorted through the streets of Pyongyang by a nine-column motorcade to Kim Il-sung Square, the capital’s primary venue for parades and political events. There, at a formal...
North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un’s recent display of nuclear-processing capabilities appears timed with reports of an impending visit by China’s leader and fuelled by insecurities about Seoul’s nuclear submarine talks with Washington. Analysts also say that mounting trilateral talks involving the United States, Japan and South Korea have galvanised Kim into doubling down on Pyongyang’s status as a nuclear-armed state. The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced on Friday that Xi...