Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang this month in a summit that analysts say signaled a significant shift in Beijing's approach to the nuclear-armed Hermit Kingdom. A review of China's official statement following the two-day meeting found no mention of denuclearization — marking the first time in recent memory that Beijing failed to include such language after high-level talks with North Korea.
The omission stands in contrast to Xi's 2019 visit to Pyongyang, when the Chinese leader publicly spoke about playing "a positive and constructive role in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula." Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told NPR that Beijing has adopted "a very significant policy change to tacitly accept the reality of a nuclear North Korea."
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive foreign policy analysts argue that China's apparent acceptance of a nuclear North Korea reflects geopolitical realignment rather than abandonment of principle. Some suggest Washington bears responsibility for creating conditions that pushed Beijing toward accommodation.
"For Xi, any thorn in the side of the United States, especially North Korea's nuclear program, is appealing," Greg Scarlatoiu, president and CEO of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, told The Hill. "Beijing and Pyongyang are adept at fooling outsiders."
Some analysts contend that China's continued support for denuclearization remains official policy but has been deprioritized amid competing strategic interests. A Chinese expert on China-North Korea relations told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post that claims Beijing had abandoned denuclearization were "mere media hype."
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative commentators view China's apparent policy shift as confirmation of long-suspected support for North Korea's nuclear program. They argue Beijing has never genuinely sought denuclearization and has actively worked to undermine international nonproliferation efforts.
Charles Burton of the Sinopsis think tank in Prague, a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing, said China has maintained leverage over Pyongyang that it chooses not to exercise. "North Korea fully depends on China's economic aid to survive," Burton told The Hill. "So Beijing has leverage to ensure that any independent Russia-North Korea alliance will not go very far."
Former Russian diplomat Georgy Toloraya offered a framework for understanding the China-Russia rivalry over North Korean influence: Russia serves as "an ambulance" treating North Korea in emergencies, while China is "the doctor who treats her day by day." The implication, analysts say, is that Beijing's relationship with Pyongyang remains more durable than Moscow's.
What the Numbers Show
North Korea joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in December 1985, receiving nuclear technology for peaceful purposes in exchange for pledges not to develop weapons. Pyongyang secretly developed nuclear devices and announced its withdrawal from the treaty in January 2003. The nation is believed to have conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006.
Before recent Russian arms deals, China accounted for approximately 95 percent of North Korea's foreign trade — a figure that illustrates Beijing's economic leverage over Pyongyang. In 2023, both Beijing and Moscow backed a dual-track approach seeking Pyongyang's denuclearization alongside establishment of what is called a peace regime to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice.
North Korea amended its constitution in 2023 to enshrine possession of nuclear weapons. A day before Xi arrived in Pyongyang for this month's summit, Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong called America's demands for denuclearization an "anachronistic dream" and said the nuclear weapons program was "irreversible."
Russia formally abandoned the goal of North Korean denuclearization last year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after meeting his North Korean counterpart: "The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea's aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing a nuclear development."
The Bottom Line
The absence of denuclearization language in China's post-summit statement represents what analysts describe as tacit acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear weapons state — whether or not Beijing officially acknowledges such a policy. China now joins Russia in no longer publicly pressing for Pyongyang to surrender its nuclear arsenal.
What remains unclear is whether this represents a fundamental shift in Chinese strategy or a tactical adjustment designed to compete with Moscow for influence over the Kim regime. The dominant narrative holds that Beijing dropped denuclearization as a goal because it is vying with Russia for favor in Pyongyang, though North Korea's continued economic dependence on China suggests limits to Russian inroads.
The development carries implications for regional security and U.S. policy toward both China and North Korea. Washington has long sought Beijing's cooperation in pressuring Pyongyang over its nuclear program. If China's apparent acceptance of a nuclear-armed North Korea is confirmed, it would represent a significant recalculation in the strategic calculus on the Korean Peninsula.