HONG KONG — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to join Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping for a show of force against the West.
Earlier, the Russian leader greeted his host as a “dear friend” and said relations between the two countries had “reached their highest level in history” as they sought to challenge U.S. global dominance.
The trio will be joined by the president of Iran at a massive military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, as Xi hosts countries isolated by the West over the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.
A smiling Kim, dressed in a black suit and red tie, was seen stepping off his armored train at the Beijing railway station in a rare trip away from his isolated, nuclear-armed state.
Xi also welcomed Putin and other world leaders this week for a summit of the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Both events are meant to promote Xi’s vision of a new global order as President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade war, steep cuts to foreign aid and withdrawal from international institutions raise questions about America's role on the world stage.
Xi and Putin held separate talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the SCO summit in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. Modi joined hands with Putin and Xi in what was seen as a message to Trump, who has alienated key Asian security partner India with steep 50% tariffs as punishment for buying Russian oil.
Though India has been improving ties with China, which Modi visited last weekend for the first time in seven years, the two countries still have major differences. Modi is not attending the parade.
China and Russia have grown closer in recent years, with Beijing striving to assert its neutrality in the war but providing Russia with a diplomatic and economic lifeline.
Xi and Putin are also close, having met more than 40 times over the past decade.
A Chinese description of their meeting at the Great Hall of the People said the two leaders had “in-depth exchanges on international and regional issues of common concern” but did not specify what those issues were.
The readout added that the two countries would continue to strengthen coordination with multilateral organizations, such as the SCO and the United Nations, which Trump has distanced the U.S. from.
The two leaders also highlighted their history during World War II.
While the then-Soviet Union remained neutral during most of WWII, it declared war on Japan in the conflict's final weeks. It then hastened Tokyo's surrender by sending troops into China's Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
“We were together then, we remain together now,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin readout.
Xi has sought to amplify the role played by China’s ruling Communist Party during the war, an effort likely aimed as much at a domestic audience as at his rivals across the world.
Also Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was expanding its visa-free policy to include Russian passport holders starting Sept. 15.
“We welcome our Russian friends to come to China more often,” ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
And Russia agreed to supply more natural gas to China while signing a memorandum on building the vast Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, energy giant Gazprom said.
There has also been speculation that Xi and Putin might hold their first trilateral meeting with North Korea's Kim.
Kim will attend the military parade, his first multilateral event since he came to power upon his father’s death in 2011. He is expected to appear with Xi and Putin as thousands of troops march below them through Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Regional experts say the North Korean leader, whose ties with neighbor and longtime ally China soured over his material support for Putin’s war against Ukraine, is likely seeking to repair relations with Beijing in preparation for the possible end of the war.
“Standing side by side with Xi Jinping and Putin on Tiananmen Gate, he will reproduce the triangular solidarity structure of the Cold War era,” South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told South Korean lawmakers Tuesday.
The agency said more than 2,000 North Korean troops were thought to have been killed fighting alongside Russia, more than double the number previously reported.
Kim has taken his daughter Ju Ae with him to Beijing, a move that may add fuel to speculation that she could be in line to succeed him.
