When the leader of China steps onto North Korean soil, it is rarely just a handshake. Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang has sent a ripple through Whitehall, where diplomats are watching Beijing’s regional playbook with unease. This is not a social call. It is a strategic move dressed in the language of brotherhood.
For the man on the street in London, the headlines may seem distant. But the human cost of this alliance is felt in the tightening of global alliances. We are seeing a cultural shift: the old order of Western-led diplomacy is giving way to a new pragmatism where power is measured in resources and proximity. North Korea, isolated and hungry, offers China a buffer against American influence. In return, Kim Jong-un gets a lifeline.
The British establishment is right to be alarmed. This visit is a reminder that friendship in geopolitics is often just leverage. The question for us is not whether Xi and Kim are friends, but what this friendship costs the rest of the world.
