Kim Jong Un in Beijing: What history says about China-North Korea ties

Beijing remains Pyongyang's closest ally, with their allegiances dating back to their joint action during the Korean War in the early 1950s, but relations have been fraught with mistrust, too

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday (September 4), according to Chinese state media, during what is being described as a rare foreign trip for the dictator.

 

The two leaders met inside the Great Hall of the People, state outlets reported. Their last in-person encounter was in June 2019, when Xi travelled to North Korea.

 

A day earlier, Kim had joined Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing, where China showcased its newest defence technologies including underwater drones, long-range missiles, and advanced laser systems.

 

 

Beijing remains Pyongyang’s closest ally, with their allegiances dating back to their joint military action during the Korean War in the early 1950s.

 

Kim has now visited China five times since taking power in late 2011. His earlier four trips, all between March 2018 and January 2019, were aimed at enlisting Beijing’s support as he engaged with then US President Donald Trump and South Korea.

 

China, North Korea and Russia: shifting relations

 

Relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have shifted dramatically over the years. In 2017, both Xi and Putin had endorsed tough UN sanctions on North Korea after its sixth nuclear test. But as tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated under Trump, China gradually moved closer to Pyongyang. By 2019, Beijing was offering near-unconditional support to Kim’s regime.

 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 added another dimension. Moscow sought Soviet-era munitions, of which North Korea had large stockpiles. Since then, Pyongyang has sent millions of artillery shells and thousands of troops to assist Russia, receiving billions of dollars in return.

 

Perhaps the most striking element of Kim’s current visit was the presence of his daughter, Ju Ae, widely regarded as his likely successor. Ju, who is believed to be 12 or 13 years old, joined her father on her first overseas trip. Her appearance drew parallels with the early 1980s, when Kim Jong Il accompanied Kim Il Sung on a visit to China that confirmed his role as heir.

 

The origins of the China-North Korea alliance

 

China and North Korea established formal diplomatic ties in 1949, as two new communist states emerging from the upheaval of WWII. When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, US-led forces pushed Pyongyang to the brink of collapse. Beijing intervened with the Chinese People’s Volunteers, turning the tide and helping secure the armistice in 1953, creating what China calls a “blood alliance”.

 

In July 1961, amid Cold War tensions, Beijing and Pyongyang signed the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance, China’s only formal defence pact with another country, pledging military aid if either were attacked.

 

Cracks during the Cold War

 

Despite the alliance, the Cold War caused friction. In 1956, during the 'August Faction Incident', China and the Soviet Union supported a faction trying to depose Kim Il Sung, deepening North Korea’s suspicion of interference.

 

Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s further strained ties. Chinese Red Guards denounced North Korea as revisionist, criticised Kim, and even clashed with Pyongyang near the border in 1969.

 

Attempts at recovery

 

By 1970, Beijing sought to improve relations. Premier Zhou Enlai visited Pyongyang and apologised for China’s ‘unfair’ treatment, invoking the metaphor that China and Korea are “neighbours as closely related as lips and teeth”.

 

However, the thaw was brief. In the 1980s, China’s Open Door reforms and ties with South Korea unsettled Pyongyang. The early 1990s brought another shock when the Soviet Union collapsed, cutting North Korea off from its patron. China normalised ties with South Korea in 1992, and subsidised trade and aid to Pyongyang declined.

 

In the 2000s, Beijing grew more vocal. After North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, China called it “flagrant and brazen” and backed UN sanctions.

 

Strains under Kim Jong Un

 

Kim Jong Un’s rise in 2011 brought new tensions. Pyongyang’s accelerated weapons testing and the execution of figures close to Beijing, most notably Kim’s uncle Jang Song-thaek in 2013, deepened mistrust. China voiced strong objections to missile launches while upholding sanctions, intensifying North Korea’s distress as China accounts for over 90 per cent of its trade.

 

In 2017, Pyongyang issued unusually blunt public criticism of Beijing, insisting its nuclear programme was non-negotiable.

 

Now, the coming together of Putin, Xi and Kim signals a realignment of global politics, but one still rooted in mistrust.