Beijing’s decision to send President Xi Jinping to Pyongyang this week has split opinion among British foreign policy experts. Is this a genuine gesture of solidarity with an isolated ally, or a calculated move to extract concessions from the West?
Xi’s first visit to North Korea in 14 years comes as Washington ramps up pressure on both nations over nuclear proliferation. But here in Britain, the debate is about what the trip means for ordinary people’s wallets. Trade disputes and geopolitical tensions have a way of hitting the kitchen table.
“This is about leverage, plain and simple,” said Dr. Alistair Finch, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “China needs North Korea as a buffer state, but it also wants to show the US it can play the nuclear card if trade talks stall. The friendship rhetoric is window dressing.”
Yet others see a deeper cultural bond. “Xi and Kim share a worldview that challenges Western liberal order,” noted Professor Judith Manners of the London School of Economics. “For all the talk of strategic interests, there is a personal chemistry and shared history that matters. China’s working class may not see North Korea as a threat, but as a fellow traveller in hardship.”
Analysts point to the luxury train Xi took – a throwback to his father’s era – as a symbol of enduring ties. “It’s a reminder that China’s communist roots are still alive,” said Manners. “That resonates with many in the industrial heartlands who feel left behind by globalisation.”
But the cost of this alliance could be high. If Xi’s visit leads to softer sanctions on North Korea, British exporters could lose out. “Every tonne of North Korean coal that finds a legal route to China is a tonne of British exports that doesn’t sell,” said Finch. “This isn’t abstract geopolitics. It’s about jobs in the Midlands.”
The Trades Union Congress has already warned that a thaw in relations must not come at the expense of workers’ rights in either country. “We’ve seen what happens when authoritarian states flood markets with cheap goods,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. “British steelworkers are still reeling from the last round.”
Xi’s itinerary includes a visit to the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Museum, a site venerating Kim Il-sung. Critics say this whitewashes a regime that starves its people. But for China’s leadership, the starvations of the 1990s were a warning of what happens when you lose control. “Xi’s message is clear: stability above all,” said Manners. “And that includes the stability of his own power.”
The UK Foreign Office has declined to comment, but sources suggest ministers are watching closely. “We need a united front on sanctions,” one official said. “If China breaks ranks, the nuclear program accelerates and everyone pays the price.”
For now, Xi’s train rolls on. Back in Manchester, a steelworker summed up the mood: “They’re playing chess with our jobs. All I care about is whether the bills get paid at the end of the month.”
