Chinese president arrives in North Korea for talks

Chinese President Xi Jinping began a two-day formal visit to North Korea Thursday, becoming the first Chinese leader to visit the country in 14 years. The Chinese delegation includes Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and other officials. Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, welcomed the delegation with a 21-gun salute at the Pyongyang airport. About 10,000 people waved flags and chanted slogans, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

The United States faces deteriorating relationships with both countries. Negotiations between Kim and President Donald Trump stalled in February after an unsuccessful summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. North Korea asked Trump to remove all sanctions directed at its economy. U.S. officials said such a move could eventually subsidize North Korea’s nuclear activity and reiterated calls for complete denuclearization. Meanwhile, China is locked in a trade battle with the United States. Xi will meet with Trump next week on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan.

China and North Korea fought together in the 1950s during the Korean War, but North Korea’s push for nuclear weapons development in recent years has strained relations between the two nations.