Xi Jinping visits North Korea for the first time since 2019, Kim Jong Un pledges support for China's Taiwan claim

A red-carpet welcome in Pyongyang

Chinese President Xi Jinping was greeted with a lavish reception in the North Korean capital on Monday, including a state banquet, an acrobatics performance, and what state media described as a display of "unbeatable" friendship. The visit is Xi's first trip abroad in eight months and his first to North Korea since 2019. Kim Jong Un rolled out the red carpet for his guest, with dancing pandas and singing featured in the welcoming ceremonies.

Deepening cooperation across the board

According to North Korea's state news agency KCNA, the two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation in politics, the economy, culture, science, and military affairs. They pledged to usher in "a new era" in bilateral relations. Xi assured Kim of China's support "no matter how the international situation changes." In return, Kim expressed full backing for China's One-China principle regarding Taiwan, a core tenet of Beijing's foreign policy that demands other nations forgo formal ties with Taipei.

The One-China principle has my full support.

The nuclear silence

Conspicuously absent from the public readouts of the summit was any reference to North Korea's nuclear weapons program or denuclearization. During Xi's previous visit in 2019, he had stated that China supported denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Since then, North Korea has significantly expanded its nuclear arsenal and delivery systems. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates North Korea now possesses over 60 nuclear warheads, ten more than the previous year.

Xi's visit suggests that China's abandonment of North Korea's denuclearization amounts to supporting its nuclear arms development.

A shifting geopolitical balance

Analysts noted a shift in the power dynamic between the two neighbors. While Chinese state media Xinhua listed concrete proposals covering trade, agriculture, and the restoration of transport links, KCNA portrayed the summit as a pact between equal partners. Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, observed that North Korea had removed elements that might make it appear as a subordinate or dependent party. The visit follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Pyongyang two years ago, giving Kim two powerful allies and reducing his international isolation.

North Korea removed elements that could make it appear as a subordinate, dependent, or favored party, and rewrote the relationship as one between equals.

Prospects for US talks remain dim

US President Donald Trump, who met Kim three times during his first term, has said he is willing to resume talks. Those earlier diplomatic efforts collapsed over US demands that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons. Analysts expressed skepticism that Xi's visit would change the calculus. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said it was doubtful Xi would serve as a catalyst for US-North Korea talks. Days before the summit, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of Kim Jong Un, rejected calls for nuclear disarmament, calling North Korea's status as a nuclear power "irreversible."

What was left unsaid

Neither the Chinese nor North Korean statements addressed the conflict with South Korea. The omission of both the nuclear issue and inter-Korean tensions signals that Beijing's geostrategic competition with the United States now takes precedence over its earlier nonproliferation goals. Shi Yinhong of Renmin University told the Frankfurter Allgemeine that detaching North Korea from Russia would be very difficult given the far greater support Putin provides for Kim's nuclear missile development.