China Has Quietly Accepted a Nuclear North Korea

A concerning development if confirmed!

Did China indeed relent to the evolving closer cooperation between two rogue states, i.e. Russia under Putin the Terrible and North Korea?

"Xi Jinping has made a consequential strategic choice. Faced with Kim Jong Un’s growing partnership with Vladimir Putin, Xi is rebuilding Chinese political and economic support for North Korea and abandoning the pretense that Beijing is seriously pursuing its denuclearization.

The result will not be a more restrained Kim. It will be a more dangerous one.

Kim is now positioned to draw military assistance and treaty protection from Russia while continuing to receive the trade, money and political backing that only China can provide. As his nuclear arsenal and conventional forces improve, he will have stronger incentives to take risks against South Korea and the United States. Most alarmingly, should China initiate a conflict over Taiwan, Kim could see an opportunity to exploit America’s distraction. ...

For years, Chinese officials claimed that Beijing wanted both stability and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Stability was always the higher priority, but China at least supported denuclearization negotiations and some efforts to constrain North Korea’s weapons programs.

That policy is effectively over.

During Xi’s June 2026 visit to Pyongyang, the first by a Chinese leader in seven years, Xi  omitted any meaningful reference to denuclearization. Premier of North Korea Pak Thae-song met with Xi in early July, where Xi again did not mention denuclearization. The silence was striking.

These instances followed other notable omissions, including at the 2025 North Korea-China summit.

The last time a Chinese official explicitly called for North Korean denuclearization was in May 2024 at the South Korea-China-Japan trilateral summit.  Beijing has tacitly accepted North Korea as a permanent nuclear power, hoping that in exchange it will regain influence over Kim.

Xi’s shift reflects the emergence of Kim’s “Russia option.”

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [in 2022], North Korea has become an important supplier of artillery ammunition, ballistic missiles and military personnel to Moscow. In return, Russia has offered Kim economic support, diplomatic protection, military cooperation and assistance with missiles, satellites, air defenses and other advanced capabilities. Their 2024 comprehensive strategic partnership treaty includes a mutual-assistance commitment. ..."

China Has Quietly Accepted a Nuclear North Korea | American Enterprise Institute - AEI