Xi Jinping Gives Tacit Approval to Pyongyang's Posture

Xi Jinping gives tacit approval to Pyongyang's posture

A flurry of diplomacy between China, Russia and North Korea continued when Chairman Xi Jinping paid his respects to Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang from 8-9 June. The strategic balance between these three powers is changing shape, and China is tacitly expressing its acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear state. It is seven years since Xi visited the Hermit Kingdom - his first trip there - and Kim certainly rolled out the red carpet for his neighbour this time. According to state outlets, the relationship between China and North Korea is "as close as lips and teeth," and China is one of the few allies that internationally ostracised North Korea counts upon. Kim's personal attendance at Xi's military parade in September 2025 was the first time he had appeared alongside both Xi and Vladimir Putin, and also his first time at a multilateral event. The very next month, Kim hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev to witness a nuclear missiles parade through Pyongyang. This by itself was ample evidence that denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula is no longer a priority or prerequisite for China. Yet Pyongyang has fallen more under the thrall of Russia in recent years. This is evinced by Kim dispatching thousands of troops to support Vladimir Putin's bloody war of attrition against Ukraine. This gave strategic importance to Xi's visit to Pyongyang, as he tries to maintain relations, if not sway, his unpredictable comrade from North Korea. Indeed, Xi was attempting to remind Kim that China is his nearest and most important benefactor. As Xi expressed, China and North Korea are "linked by mountains and rivers and share a common destiny". Xi explained that the two leaders had reached an important consensus to "grasp the trend of the times". Surprisingly, this was just the first overseas trip that Xi has taken this year, one that Kim described as of "utmost importance" amidst "upheaval in international affairs". For Kim, it was important to have the leader of the world's second-largest economy present on his turf. Accompanying Xi were his de facto chief of staff Cai Qi, Defence Minister Dong Jun, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Pyongyang remains reliant upon China, especially as North Korea suffers from international sanctions because of its nuclear program. No hard deals emerged from this particular state visit, but it nonetheless provided good optics for both Xi and Kim. China has been a mainstay of political and economic support to North Korea since relations were forged in 1949. Their ties had been cemented by the Korean War, with Western sources estimating perhaps 400,000 Chinese soldiers died. It was therefore appropriate that Kim and Xi visited Friendship Tower, a commemorative site for Chinese soldiers. There have been ups and downs, such as when Beijing normalised relations with Seoul, much to Pyongyang's chagrin. When China recognised South Korea in 1992, this was a stunning move since China had fought against it 40 years earlier and had been an ardent supporter of the North. However, it demonstrated at the time that Beijing was pragmatic, willing to forego ideological purity for the sake of economic benefit. Of course, that was a different era to now. Then, when North Korea detonated a nuclear device in October 2006, China responded by endorsing United Nations sanctions. This strained their relationship further, with North Korea's repeated nuclear and missile tests since then usually attracting disapproval from China. The two countries had been gradually drifting apart until Kim's visit to Beijing in March 2018 helped put things on a more even keel. Then, in an unprecedented flurry of exchanges, Kim met Xi again in May 2018, June 2018, January 2019 and June 2019. However, relations again took a hit after China closed its border during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing bilateral trade to tumble by 80% in 2020. China was once seen as a major force in persuading North Korea to denuclearise. However, that level of influence was overblown. Furthermore, Beijing is not only accepting of Pyongyang's nuclear capability, but it might even be seen as quietly supporting it. Seong-Hyon Lee, a senior fellow at the George H.W Bush Foundation for US-China Relations in the USA, noted in an article for The Jamestown Foundation think-tank