China’s president Xi Jinping convened his Russian and North Korean counterparts in Beijing for the first time on Tuesday, a show of solidarity with countries shunned by the West over their role in Europe’s worst war in 80 years.
Mr Xi hosted Vladimir Putin for talks at the Great Hall of the People and then at his personal residence, calling him his “old friend”.
A few hours later, Kim Jong-un’s armoured train was spotted arriving in the Chinese capital. North Korean state media confirmed Kim’s arrival, showing his daughter Kim Ju-ae accompanying him.
Ms Ju-ae, whom South Korean intelligence consider her father’s most likely successor, is making her international debut after years of being seen next to Mr Kim at major domestic events.
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Mr Xi, Mr Putin and Mr Kim are set to take centre stage at a massive military parade on Wednesday, where the Chinese president will flaunt his vision for a new global order as US president Donald Trump’s “America First” policies strain western alliances.
Mr Xi also held talks on Monday with prime minister Narendra Modi of India, whose country has been targeted by Mr Trump over its purchases of Russian oil seen as helping finance Mr Putin’s war effort.
Mr Trump’s treasury secretary Scott Bessent called the summit “performative” and accused China and India, the biggest buyers of Russian crude, of being “bad actors” by fuelling Russia’s war.
As Mr Putin and Mr Xi met, Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation signed a deal to increase gas supplies and penned an agreement on a new pipeline that could supply China for 30 years.
Mr Putin also told the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit in Tianjin that a “fair balance in the security sphere” must be restored, shorthand for Russia’s criticism of the eastward expansion of Nato.
Mr Kim has supplied more than 15,000 troops to support Mr Putin’s war in Ukraine.
About 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed fighting for Russia in the Kursk region, according to South Korea’s intelligence agency, which believes Pyongyang is planning another deployment.
For Mr Kim, the parade will mark the largest multilateral diplomatic event he has ever attended, offering the reclusive young leader an opportunity to gain implicit support for his banned nuclear weapons, and expand his diplomatic circle.
At the Beijing railway station, Mr Kim and his daughter were greeted by senior Chinese officials including top-ranked Communist Party official Cai Qi and foreign minister Wang Yi, according to North Korean state media.
Painstaking planning has also gone into China’s “Victory Day” parade, marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of the Second World War, with downtown Beijing paralysed by security measures and traffic controls for weeks.
Alongside the showcase of cutting-edge military hardware in front of an estimated 50,000 spectators, authorities plan to release more than 80,000 “peace doves” during the event. - Reuters
