BEIJING, September 2 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping called up his Russian and North Korean counterparts for the first time on Tuesday.
Vladimir Putin welcomed the “unprecedented relationship” with China and thanked “dear friend” XI during consultations at the Beijing convention, and Kim Jong Un’s armored special train meandered towards the Chinese capital.
Iranian leaders are also scheduled to attend China’s massive military paradise on Wednesday, and Xi’s diplomatic influence with a group of authoritarian regimes called the “axis of rapid change” by Western analysts comes as US President Donald Trump’s isolationist policies are straining the Washington Alliance.
Beyond the flamboyant, analysts are looking at whether the trio will inform closer defense ties, following the agreement signed by Russia and North Korea in June 2024, whether the trio will inform closer defense ties or whether a similar alliance with Beijing and Pyongyang monitors outcomes that could change military calculus in the Asia-Pacific region.
It would also be a blow to Trump, who spoke of his close ties with Putin, Xi and Kim, and promoted his peacemaking qualifications as Russia’s three and a half years of war with Ukraine became furious.
In a thinly veiled swipe at this Pacific rival on Monday, XI spoke of a gathering of more than 20 leaders from non-Western countries.
Xi Jinbu also held negotiations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. This, along with China, has been targeted by Trump for purchasing Russian oil to help fund Russia’s war efforts.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent on Monday called the summit “performative” and accused China and India of being “bad actors” for fueling the Russian war.
When Putin and XI met on Tuesday, Russia’s Gazprom Gazp.MM and China’s National Petroleum Corporation signed a contract to increase gas supply and wrote an agreement on a new pipeline that can supply China for 30 years.
The leaders later retired to the Chinese president’s private residence and continued unspecified negotiations with the delegation.
Alarm Bell
As Trump aimed for the Nobel Peace Prize, a new concentration of military force in the eastern region, including Russia, sounds a Western alarm.
“The trilateral military exercises between Russia, China and North Korea seem almost inevitable,” wrote Young Jun Kim, an analyst at the US-based Bureau of Asian Studies in March, citing how the Ukrainian conflict brought Moscow and Pyongyang closer.
“A few years ago, China and Russia were important partners to impose international sanctions on North Korea for nuclear and missile testing.
Kim is a key stakeholder in the Ukrainian conflict. North Korean leaders provided more than 15,000 troops to support Putin’s war.
In 2024 he also hosted the Russian leader in Pyongyang, the first summit in 24 years.
According to South Korea’s intelligence agency, around 600 North Korean soldiers died fighting for Russia in the Kursk region. This is believed to be Pyongyang planning another development.
Putin also told the Shanghai Cooperation Agency Summit in Tianjin that “a fair balance in the security sector” must be restored. A biography of Russia’s criticism of NATO and the expansion of European security was spoken.
His visit to Beijing and his meeting with Xi and Kim may provide clues to Putin’s intentions.
For Kim, the parade marks the biggest multilateral diplomatic event he has ever attended.
North Korean provincial newspaper Rodong Sinmun has released photos of Kim and his close aides on his train, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, who has been involved in Pyongyang’s weapons development diplomacy for over 20 years.
Before moving to China early Tuesday, Kim visited the missile lab, which analysts described as planned moves.
Hong Min, a North Korean analyst at the National Unification Institute, said the visit was intended to “show off his nuclear state-owned position” just before he was “standing alongside XI and Putin.”
The weeks of preparation entered a highly choreographed “Victory Day” parade, marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II, and downtown Beijing was paralyzed by security measures and traffic restrictions.
In addition to a showcase of cutting-edge military hardware in front of an estimated 50,000 spectators, authorities will release more than 80,000 peace doves and colorful balloons.
(Reporting by Joe Cash of Beijing and Lydia Kelly in Melbourne, written by John Geddy, edited by Ryan Wu, Lincoln Feast and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
