The ‘secret’ meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese President Xi Xinping has sent a clear message to the US: Pyongyang is not ready to make any diplomatic move without Beijing’s intervention.
Speculation about a visit to Beijing by Kim was running high on March 27 amid talk of preparations for a meeting between the North Korean leader and US President Donald Trump. Later, the Chinese state media confirmed that Kim visited Beijing to hold talks with President Xi. The governments of both the ‘Communist’ countries also released several images of the two statesmen who discussed various issues during the meeting. Later, the two leaders, along with their wives, enjoyed dinner together. Without disclosing the topics of discussions between Kim and President Xi and other details, Beijing said that the visiting leader agreed to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.

According to analysts, Kim’s ‘secret’ visit to China has a great diplomatic implication especially for the US. Jean H Lee of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington said: “We’re seeing a carefully crafted North Korean strategy on diplomacy unfold on the world stage, starting with Beijing.” She also said that Kim would require Beijing’s support to ‘win the diplomatic battle’ against South Korea and the US. Lee stressed that the Kim-Xi meeting was a reminder of just how closely linked Pyongyang and Beijing have been. China is ready to play a delicate game: maintaining the balance of power and acting as the preponderant power in Asia. The visit can also be considered as a strong statement by President Xi: China calls the shots. It is to be noted that Kim travelled to Beijing and President Xi did not visit Pyongyang.
The bilateral ties were not so ‘friendly’ in recent years. Kim executed his uncle Jang Song-thaek as a “traitor for all ages” in December 2013. The North Korean media reportedly said that Jang – previously one of the country’s most powerful men – confessed to planning a coup against Kim. The North Korean leader claimed that his uncle had tried to overthrow him with China’s help. He also denounced his uncle as “worse than a dog” and “despicable human scum”. Later on September 4-5, 2016, Kim carried out nuclear and missile tests without notifying Beijing when China was hosting the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou. The Chinese president sent a special envoy to Pyongyang for holding talks with Kim in 2017. However, the North Korean leader reportedly refused to meet the envoy. The scenario changed in early 2018 as North Korea realised that China was its lifeline, with the Asian giant accounting for more than 90% of North Korea’s total trade volume.

Although Beijing has thrown Trump a curveball ahead of his talks with Kim, the US president is eager to meet the North Korean leader. “Now, there is a good chance that Kim Jong-un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Received message last night from Xi Jinping of China that his meeting with Kim went very well and that Kim looks forward to his meeting with me,” he tweeted on March 28.
Perhaps, the US president (too) is ready with different plans ahead of his extraordinary meeting with Kim.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das