{"id":46205,"date":"2026-06-08T23:12:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T23:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/46205\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T23:12:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T23:12:41","slug":"china-reasserts-itself-to-contain-north-koreas-tilt-toward-russia-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/46205\/","title":{"rendered":"China Reasserts Itself, to Contain North Korea\u2019s Tilt Toward Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

China\u2019s top leader, Xi Jinping, arrived in North Korea on Monday and delivered what analysts said was a subtle reminder to the country\u2019s newly emboldened dictator<\/a>, Kim Jong-un, that China is his most important benefactor, economic partner and bulwark against the United States.<\/p>\n

According to an official summary of the leaders\u2019 talks released by Chinese state media, Mr. Xi called for \u201cclose strategic communication\u201d with Mr. Kim and for strengthening exchanges \u201cat all levels and in all fields.\u201d He said he was willing to deepen relations with Mr. Kim in \u201cthe new era,\u201d a phrase Mr. Xi has used to project China\u2019s growing strength on the world stage.<\/p>\n

In many ways, Mr. Xi\u2019s two-day trip to Pyongyang, North Korea\u2019s capital, is an effort to balance influence from Russia<\/a>, which signed a mutual defense pact with North Korea two years ago. That deal has helped revive North Korea\u2019s economy, by allowing Mr. Kim to trade weapons and troops with Russia for badly needed oil, food and weapons technology, and given him a stronger hand in talks with Mr. Xi.<\/p>\n

Mr. Xi was received by Mr. Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, when he landed in Pyongyang, his first trip there in seven years. His motorcade was greeted by a military honor guard and throngs of citizens waving both national flags, with children dancing and clutching bright balloons. North Korea gave Mr. Xi a similar welcome the last time he visited Pyongyang.<\/p>\n

At a meeting at the Kumsusan Guest House, Mr. Xi pledged to cooperate with Mr. Kim in trade, agriculture, science, tourism and health care.<\/p>\n

North Korea had not released a statement about the meeting by late Monday. Mr. Kim was expected to press Mr. Xi for more economic support and possibly a greater acceptance of North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons program.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s summary made no mention of the nuclear program, instead stressing that the two countries should \u201cjointly safeguard regional peace and development.\u201d<\/p>\n

China\u2019s long held position is that it opposes a nuclear North Korean state, largely over concerns about driving U.S. allies like South Korea to seek nuclear weapons. Statements about working toward ending the program used to be standard for the two sides during diplomatic engagements, but they have been omitted since last September, when Mr. Kim visited Beijing to attend a military parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina\u2019s approach to North Korea has shifted markedly over the past seven years, from the role of a mediator for North Korea\u2013U.S. denuclearization talks to that of a strong strategic partner in countering the United States,\u201d said Hong Min, an expert on North Korea at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a research institute based in Seoul.<\/p>\n

The change may reflect China\u2019s desire to placate North Korea. But it could also suggest that the Chinese government believes that a nuclear-armed North Korea would provide leverage over the United States and South Korea, analysts said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Xi evoked the two countries\u2019 history fighting the United States together in the Korean War, reminding Mr. Kim that their \u201ctraditional friendship\u201d had been \u201cforged in blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall message that Beijing wants to project through this summit is the unity and the unbreakable bonds between the two countries,\u201d said William Yang, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group.<\/p>\n

In a letter published Monday in North Korea\u2019s main state-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, Mr. Xi declared that relations between China and North Korea were at a \u201cnew historical starting point.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called on the two countries to \u201coppose hegemonism and power politics,\u201d an oblique reference to the United States. In a veiled swipe at Japan<\/a>, with which China has been in a monthslong feud<\/a>, Mr. Xi wrote that they should also oppose \u201cany scheme or action aimed at reviving militarism and undermining regional security and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with Russia and Iran, Mr. Xi has cast North Korea as a close partner in a new world order free of what China sees as U.S. dominance and meddling.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kim has said North Korea should boost trade with China to further stimulate its economy and generate hard currency. Yet all its top exports \u2014 coal, iron ore, fish and textiles \u2014 remain prohibited under United Nations sanctions, creating a huge trade deficit with China that has threatened to drain its foreign currency reserves.<\/p>\n

Mr. Xi\u2019s offers on trade and tourism could change that, but it is not clear whether it is possible to do so without violating U.N. sanctions.<\/p>\n

Both China and Russia have grown increasingly reluctant to enforce those sanctions in recent years, as tensions with the United States have worsened. In a joint statement<\/a> issued last month, Mr. Xi and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia declared their opposition to \u201cthe use of diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions, force and pressure\u201d against North Korea.<\/p>\n

Such backing has emboldened Mr. Kim to hold on to his nuclear arsenal and insist on being\u200b treated as a nuclear-armed state. In the days preceding Mr. Xi\u2019s arrival, he visited a missile factory and a newly operational weapons-grade uranium enrichment facility, vowing to \u201cbeef up our state\u2019s nuclear forces at an exponential rate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China\u2019s top leader, Xi Jinping, arrived in North Korea on Monday and delivered what analysts said was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25669,120,141,31,34,2447,1863,7299,2744,7300,1334],"class_list":["post-46205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-arms-control-and-limitation-and-disarmament","tag-international-relations","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-korea","tag-north-korea","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-politics-and-government","tag-putin","tag-pyongyang-north-korea","tag-vladimir-v","tag-xi-jinping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}