The headlines write themselves: Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un clasp hands, pledge mutual support, and the Western punditry yawns. How quaint. A communist summit in the age of TikTok diplomacy.
But beneath the familiar photo op lies a seismic shift. Beijing is no longer just North Korea’s patron, but its economic lifeline. As the Hermit Kingdom emerges from pandemic isolation, it brings with it a debt of gratitude payable in geopolitical allegiance.
The West, obsessed with Ukraine and Taiwan, forgets that leverage is a currency Kim understands better than any currency printed in Washington. Xi’s visit cements a dynamic where Beijing can pressure Pyongyang on denuclearisation or sanction-busting at will. The question is not whether the West should worry.
The question is why it isn’t panicking.
