Overview

• Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing by armored train and was received by senior Chinese officials Cai Qi and Wang Yi, with South Korea’s intelligence service saying he traveled with his daughter Kim Ju Ae.
• Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin held talks in the capital and lauded their relationship as at an unprecedented level, with Xi decrying “intimidatory behavior” by some countries and Putin blaming the West for the war in Ukraine.
• The three leaders are set to appear together on September 3 at a large military parade in Tiananmen Square, with more than twenty world leaders expected and security in the city tightened.
• Analysts and Western officials view the public convergence as a signal of growing alignment among China, Russia and North Korea, while noting no new formal trilateral defense pact has been announced.
• The showcase follows China’s SCO summit in Tianjin, where Beijing promoted an alternative governance model, and marks a rare foreign trip for Kim, his second in six years.