© picture alliance / Newscom | Alan Siu Mui Lun
Chinese President Xi Jinping is making a two-day state visit to North Korea. On Monday morning, he was received with great pomp by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It is the first time in seven years that a Chinese president has visited North Korea.
Before leaving for Pyongyang, Xi declared that the friendship between China and North Korea is "invincible." Recently, China has increasingly profiled itself as a versatile global mediator in geopolitically fraught times. Recently, both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Xi.
On the two-day visit, Xi was accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Due in part to the hermetic sealing of borders during the corona pandemic and the growing rapprochement between Kim Jong-un and Putin, North Korea-China relations had cooled in recent years, although China remains North Korea's main economic lifeline and diplomatic partner.
Prior to the two-day state visit, Xi wrote that "no matter how times change and how the international situation develops, the traditional friendship between China and North Korea remains unbreakable, steadfast and constantly radiates vitality."
It is unclear whether Pyongyang's nuclear program will come up for discussion during the visit. China views North Korea's nuclear weapons development program with suspicion: it increases U.S. attention on the region and risks instability on the China-North Korea border.
The visit coincides with the 65th anniversary of the 1961 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between China and North Korea, China's only mutual defense treaty. In the Korean War, Chinese troops had fought alongside North Korea.
Illustration picture: © picture alliance / Newscom | Alan Siu Mui Lun