Beijing/Seoul — Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first visit to North Korea in seven years wasn’t just loaded with rhetoric hailing historic ties between China and its longstanding – and only – treaty ally. Instead, the two-day state visit was a chance for Xi to spell out his vision for China’s alignment with its nuclear-armed neighbor into the future – and in a moment of global flux. “In the face of the profound changes unseen in a century,” both sides should “open up a brighter prospect for the socialist cause of the two countries as well as regional peace and development,” Xi told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during Monday talks in Pyongyang. To do that, China was ready to expand cooperation in trade, agriculture, construction, science and technology, and healthcare; bolster “strategic coordination,” and strengthen military, diplomatic, and law enforcement exchanges, Xi said. That’s a more concrete vision than Xi laid out the last time the two leaders sat down at the ornate Kumsusan Guesthouse in Pyongyang in 2019, according to a comparison of Beijing’s official statements from both meetings. And Xi’s remarks this time around were also missing a key phrase. Unlike seven years ago, the Chinese leader did not reference Beijing’s support of “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” according to published remarks so far. That’s potentially a win for Kim. Under his rule, North Korea has continued to ramp up its nuclear program in violation of United Nations sanctions. In 2023, it amended its constitution to enshrine its policy on developing nuclear weapons. It may also be a sign of how Beijing is calibrating its diplomacy to what it sees as a very different world than seven years ago – one where it’s locked in strategic competition with the US, and in which Pyongyang has tightened ties with Moscow. Xi and Kim shake hands at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse in Pyongyang on Monday. Xie Huanchi/Xinhua/AP A diplomatic show The Chinese leader’s visit to Pyongyang this time comes as China’s star in the global international arena is rising. A parade of leaders from across the world have visited Xi in Beijing this year, including a remarkable week-long period in which Xi hosted both the US and Russian presidents for state visits – an agenda few other world leaders would be able to pull off. The Trump administration’s recent military exploits in Venezuela and its economically damaging war on Iran, meanwhile, are giving Beijing more confidence in projecting its message: that China is the responsible global power with the right vision for how the world should be run. Visiting North Korea gives Xi another chance to show himself as an agile powerbroker able to engage a diverse cast of leaders, from the chief of the world’s most powerful democracy to an autocrat with a sanctions-defying weapons regime. China’s call to strengthen exchanges in diplomacy, law enforcement, and the military with North Korea is likely a signal that it wants Pyongyang to participate more actively in the economic and security bloc that Beijing is seeking to build and lead, according to Lim Eul-chul, a professor at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. It also allows Beijing to show the US and its allies that is still has leverage over Pyongyang. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in restarting diplomacy with Kim, after his fanfare-filled bid to disband North Korea’s nuclear program during his first term ultimately failed. The Korean Peninsula was among issues discussed between Xi and Trump during the US president’s three-day visit to Beijing in mid-May. China is unlikely to see now as a ripe time to pressure Kim to give up his nuclear program. “At present, Kim sees more risk in diplomacy with Trump than in following a Cold War 2.0 playbook, and Xi sees more risk in pressuring North Korea than from enabling it,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. But the optics of being close to Pyongyang still puts more cards in Xi’s hand when it comes to dealing with the US. Xi walks with Kim during Xi’s state visit to Pyongyang this week. KCNA/Reuters A balance of power Xi’s trip is his first one overseas this year – a point not missed by Kim, who hailed the gesture as “the highest demonstration of the importance China attaches to North Korea–China friendship,” according to North Korea state outlet Rodong Sinmun. China has long been North Korea’s principal economic lifeline and most important diplomatic partner. The two countries describe their allegiance as “forged in blood” from fighting together in the Korean War. Kim said that North Korea would continue to uphold bilateral friendship as “the most important top-priority strategic work” and would spare no effort to strengthen and develop it into an unwavering and solid strategic relationship. But beneath the lofty rhetoric, Xi’s visit is also about ensuring that relationship, and the sway that it has long looked to hold over its unpredictable neighbor, remains in tact. Ties have cooled in recent years between the two sides – while Pyongyang drove closer to Moscow. Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2024 inked a mutual defense treaty, and North Korea has provided thousands of soldiers and munitions to aid Russia’s war on Ukraine, a development that’s alarmed a West wary of a growing alignment between Pyongyang, Moscow and Beijing. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ride in a Russian-made Aurus car in Pyongyang on June 20, 2024. KCNA/Reuters The optics of Xi’s highly ceremonial visit to Pyongyang this week cut a contrast to Putin’s in 2024, when the Russian leader and Kim took turns driving each other in a Russian-built limousine – and smiling images of the two projected intimacy and trust. Even still, Xi’s visit now, and his talk of deepening ties across trade, science and technology, is a sign that Beijing wants to reassert its position as Pyongyang’s primary partner. Observers say it also speaks to Xi’s broader calculations about the balance of power in the region, where US allies are strengthening their defense footing in the face of China’s growing military might. Xi’s reference to strengthening military exchanges with North Korea may signal a significant shift from its previous support of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, according to Lim. “This could mean a China–North Korea security alignment aimed at countering South Korea, US and Japan, while tacitly accepting North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed state,” he said. When asked at press briefings this week whether China still supports denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China maintains “continuity and consistency” in its position on the Korean Peninsula issue. Kim appeared to test that potential tolerance in the lead-up to Xi’s arrival, inspecting a missile manufacturer over the weekend and a new plant that manufactures weapons-grade nuclear material days earlier. While readouts from the two sides as of Tuesday afternoon did not reference nuclear weapons, the meetings may also be a chance for each to understand the other’s strategy and stance – and express their own. “Beijing expects Pyongyang to respect its interests and to avoid destabilizing policies,” said Easley in Seoul. “Xi’s visit is a strategic embrace of Kim but not a blank check for North Korea.” Shuai Zhang contributed to this report. The post Why China’s Xi wants a ‘brighter’ future with North Korea appeared first on Egypt Independent.
