Mike Baker

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife even greeted Xi and his wife at the airport to help push the luggage trolleys before the two leaders briefly held talks and attended a state banquet.

But the real significance of this visit lies beyond the optics.

It's about China's growing concern that North Korea has been drifting closer to Russia at a time when Beijing believes it should remain the dominant outside power in Pyongyang.

And Xi made that point immediately.

Shortly after his arrival, the Chinese president called for deeper, quote, strategic coordination and cooperation between the two countries and said the relationship should be injected with what he described as, quote, powerful momentum, end quote.

And before touching down in Pyongyang, Xi telegraphed the purpose of the trip.

In many ways, the message was directed just as much at Moscow as it was at Pyongyang.

In a published editorial in state media, he described China-North Korea relations as standing at a, quote, new historical starting point and called preserving ties between the two as a, quote, unwavering policy of the CCP.

He then referred to Vladimir Putin as a complete wanker.

No, he didn't do that either.

I just made that up.

To understand Xi's latest visit and schmoozing of Kim Jong-un, it is important, though, to look at Russia's relationship with North Korea over the past few years.

As Russia became increasingly isolated from the West in 2022, the Kremlin began looking for new sources of weapons and ammunition, manpower and political support, and North Korea was more than willing to help.

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang in 2024, where the two countries signed a mutual defense treaty.

And as our longtime PDB listeners know, that led to North Korea supplying ammunition, weapons, and of course, thousands of troops to assist Putin's war effort.

In return, North Korea gained a powerful patron, willing to support the regime economically, diplomatically, and most significantly, militarily.

From Beijing's perspective, that is where the problem starts.

China has long viewed North Korea as one of its most strategically important neighbors.

The regime serves as a buffer between Chinese territory and American allies stationed in South Korea and Japan.

But Beijing has long worried that Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions create instability, encourage a larger American military presence in the region, and raise tensions.