The last time China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, traveled 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 Mr. Xi returns to North Korea on Monday, he will meet with a leader who is newly emboldened by an alliance with Russia that has helped his economy break out of isolation.
Mr. Xi is expected to use the two-day summit with Mr. 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 neighbor that has leaned toward Russia. Mr. 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 Beijing for economic concessions.
If North Korea is able to successfully balance its two giant neighbors, Mr. Kim might feel even less constrained about advancing his nuclear weapons program. That could destabilize a region where U.S. allies are already worried about China’s military buildup and Washington’s ability to honor its defense agreements as it depletes resources fighting a war with Iran.
Here’s what to know about the meeting.
Xi wants to signal unity, but will also have to court Kim.
Mr. Xi will likely use his rare access to Mr. Kim to remind the world that North Korea depends on China and that Beijing cannot be sidelined.
The messaging would align with efforts by Mr. 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 — Beijing is a stabilizing force in the world. This point was reinforced in Mr. Xi’s recent summits with President Trump, then President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in Beijing.