Chinese President Xi Jinping has landed in Pyongyang for his first trip to North Korea in seven years, just days after the country’s leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his ambitions for “exponential” expansion of his nuclear arsenal.Xi is expected to meet Kim on Tuesday, a meeting that comes after the North Korean leader has pursued closer economic and military ties with Russia in recent years. Many analysts believe China wants to push North Korea to talk to its neighbours, including on denuclearisation, as Kim has become increasingly bombastic about his nuclear ambitions.
“From China’s perspective, [North Korea] should be engaging with neighbouring countries in talks on peace and denuclearisation,” said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University.
“More importantly, it should be seeking economic and social engagement with its neighbours to ensure it becomes less isolated and more oriented towards peace,” he said.