Friendship or leverage: why is Xi Jinping going to North Korea?
Chinese leader Xi Jinping's official visit to North Korea is being read as both a demonstration of Beijing's enduring sway over Pyongyang and as leverage vis-à-vis Washington. The BBC writes the visit is critical for both Korean peninsula balances and Beijing's wider East Asia strategy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to North Korea is being read as a strategic move that both reaffirms Beijing's sway over Pyongyang and serves as leverage vis-à-vis Washington. According to the BBC, Xi's programme includes bilateral talks with Kim Jong Un, items on economic cooperation and a regional security agenda.
North Korea's intensified missile testing in recent months and its deepening logistical ties with Russia bring fresh focus to Beijing's balancing role. South Korea's foreign ministry said it wanted UN channels kept open; Tokyo requested a briefing from China's ambassador on the visit's technical content. In Washington, attention turned to any public statements Xi might make on the nuclear file.
Watch: the end-of-visit joint communiqué, possible border-trade protocols, statements on South Korea-Japan-US trilateral talks, and the direction of regional market risk premia going into the new week.
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