China likely aims to reassert itself over a neighbour that has leaned towards Russia: Analysts
The last time China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, travelled to North Korea, that country’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, was reeling from sanctions and failed nuclear talks with the United States.
Now, nearly seven years later, as Xi returns to North Korea on June 8, he will meet a leader who is newly emboldened by an alliance with Russia that has helped his economy break out of isolation.
Xi is expected to use the two-day summit with Kim to project a united front between allies against the West.
But analysts say China is likely also keen to assert its influence over a neighbour that has leaned towards Russia.
Kim, for his part, wants to be treated less like a junior partner to China and will likely use his new closeness to Russia to press China for economic concessions.
If North Korea is able to successfully balance its two giant neighbours, Kim might feel even less constrained about advancing his nuclear weapons programme.
That could destabilise a region where US allies are already worried about China’s military build-up and Washington’s ability to honour its defence agreements as it depletes resources fighting a war with Iran.
Here’s what to know about the meeting.
Xi will likely use his rare access to Kim to remind the world that North Korea depends on China and that Beijing cannot be sidelined.
The messaging would align with efforts by Xi to project China as a superpower equal to the United States. China is keen to show that while Washington sows chaos – whether through its war with Iran or by imposing tariffs on allies and adversaries alike — China is a stabilising force in the world.
This point was reinforced in Xi’s recent summits with US President Donald Trump, then Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Beijing.