China's Xi visits Pyongyang to meet with North Korea's Kim
· Toronto Sun
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in North Korea (DPRK) for a two-day trip to repair ties between the two countries, which have grown strained due to Pyongyang’s close relationship with Russia and the pandemic.
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Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated what they called an “unbreakable” bond in the face of a Western-led global order. This is Xi’s first trip out of China this year as more than a dozen world leaders have come to see him in Beijing, and his first in seven years to the North Korean capital.
Xi’s trip is ostensibly billed as a commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the friendship and mutual assistance treaty between China and North Korea, China’s only defence agreement with another country.
New relations, new leverage
The visit points to Pyongyang’s growing clout on the world stage. North Korea is a key ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, supplying it with munitions and more than 12,000 troops and in 2024 Moscow and Pyongyang signed a mutual defence pact.
China and North Korea have a long and complicated relationship. The Chinese fought alongside the North in the Korean War and China is the country’s main economic lifeline. But Pyongyang maintains its independence from Beijing and can be an unpredictable neighbour. China also likes to keep a close eye on the isolated nuclear power. Relations became strained when North Korea closed its borders to China during the pandemic. But relations are starting to thaw once more with China seeking to shore up its ties.
The relationship is at a “new historical starting point, facing new development opportunities and shouldering new missions of the times,” Xi wrote in an article in Rodong Sinmun , a North Korean state newspaper. “China stands ready to work with the DPRK to steer bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, keep China-DPRK relations abreast of the times, and achieve greater development of the relationship.”
Issues at hand
Xi’s visit comes less than a month after a summit in Beijing with U.S. President Donald Trump, where, according to Trump, North Korea and its nuclear policy were discussed. The U.S. says both it and China are committed to North Korea’s denuclearization after their meeting in May, though China didn’t confirm that statement.
On Sunday, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-Jong , a considerably powerful figure within the regime, says claims that the U.S. and China discussed North Korean denuclearization were “false.”
As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Counci l, China has frequently sided with Russia to veto or abstain from putting new sanctions on North Korea, while the U.S., South Korea and Japan have raised concerns about China deciding to recognize North Korea as a nuclear state.
North Korea could have enough material for 60 warheads, and enough to eventually assemble 90, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its annual report released Sunday.