China's President Xi To Visit North Korea This Week

[rainman + 263]

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit North Korea for two days from Thursday, state media in both countries reported on Monday, making him the first Chinese leader to visit in 14 years.Neighboring China is reclusive North Korea’s only major ally, and the visit comes amid renewed tensions between the United States and North Korea over efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
“Both sides will exchange views on the (Korean) peninsula situation, and push for new progress in the political resolution of the peninsula issue,” China’s official broadcaster CCTV said in a lengthy report that led the evening news. The invitation was made by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, state media in both countries said.

[Pavel + 384]

Of course, before G20 Summit,  Xi is showing Trump that China still has an important card to play - North Korea.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Pavel

[pinto + 293]

4 minutes ago, Pavel said:

Of course, before G20 Summit,  Xi is showing Trump that China still has an important card to play - North Korea.

Yep, meeting in the moment as both countries lock horns with United States 

[francoba + 93]

It's showing tight link, and in one hand it confirms CCP has always been behind N. Korea's nuclear threat.

[50 shades of black + 254]

Kim has met with Moon three times, most recently in September 2018. And, and every time it was before (or soon after) important events...So, now Xi's making same..

[damirUSBiH + 327]

Who is next? Putin, or Erdogan ... or Maduro 😁

[ThunderBlade + 231]

So, it's real to expect that Kim will have to pen one of those beautiful letters next week😂

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

While many may think my views about global politics are absurd, misinformed, biased and hysterical, I would like to gently remind those individuals that those adjectives pretty much sum up my views of much of Mainstream Media such as CNN.  So we are even, I guess.  Just my opinion; as always, you are free to disagree.

Anyway...

Take careful note of this predictive infographic below from 2 years ago.  Successful strategy prediction seems successful.  Your mileage may vary.

 

"... For two-and-a-half years U.S. President Trump has been working on two connected objectives: (1) removing the threat posed by North Korea by severing the ability of Beijing to use the proxy province as a weapon (Kim is hostage to China); and (2) deconstructing the growing economic influence of China.

Both issues are directly connected to national security; and both issues are being approached by President Trump through the use of economic leverage to achieve national security results.

At first blush, there’s always a possibility of Chairman Xi going to see Chairman Kim in dragon mode… looking for a way to weaponize the DPRK despite the budding relationship between Chairman Kim (hostage) and U.S. President Donald Trump.  However, that dragon perspective is blunted by the open media indications that the talks are centered around denuclearization.   So that puts more weight on the second possibility.

The second possibility, the more optimistic possibility, is that we have finally reached that point in the U.S. -vs- China economic confrontation where Chairman Xi is now facing defeat and attempting to save face, and gain a better economic outcome, by releasing his hostage.   This would be an incredible, almost unfathomable, win for President Trump; and an astounding visible affirmation that the year’s long strategy has been successful.

When we began watching this journey in 2017, there were indications President Trump was working specifically to create an outcome of a hostage release.  And in the years that have followed there have been multiple highly-nuanced indications of the strategy Trump was following.  This visit by Chairman Xi to North Korea in advance of the G20 summit has all the indications of this could very well be the culmination; ending exactly where President Trump has intended. As we noted in this graphic two years ago:

Caution is the word of the day.  After all, this is the cunning and duplicitous China we are talking about here…. they have a history of using deceit and stall tactics to achieve victory.  However, President Trump has shown he is well aware of what lies behind the panda mask.

That said, it’s worth watching very closely now to see the details of the G20 and whether Xi and Trump actually meet. ..."