Chinese President Xi Jinping sends ‘special envoy’ to North Korea
Song Tao will be the first ministerial-level Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since October 2015

China will send a senior diplomat to North Korea as global tensions over the North’s nuclear weapons and missiles programmes continue to build. The diplomat is a “special envoy” of the Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Song Tao, the head of China’s ruling Communist Party’s International Department, will head to Pyongyang tomorrow. The visit comes a week after US President Donald Trump’s 13-day Asia trip where he urged China to put more pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, CNN reports.
Song will become the first ministerial-level Chinese official to visit North Korea since October 2015.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang steered away from saying the trip had any connection to Trump’s visit. He said it was common practice for the Communist Party and North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party to exchange views.
“The purpose of this visit is to brief about the party congress and exchange views on issues of common interest and bilateral interest,” Geng said at a briefing, according to Politico.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua says Song will officially inform the North Korean Workers’ Party of the outcome of the 19th Party Congress in China where Chinese president Xi Jinping was elected to a second term.
China and North Korea’s strained relationship was once a budding alliance, but the two parties still have “long-standing ties that often supersede formal diplomacy,” Politico says. China is Pyongyang’s main ally, chief source of food and fuel aid, and trading partner, but China has been frustrated by the North’s persistent advancement of its nuclear and missile programmes. As a result, it has enforced U.N. sanctions targeting North Korea’s sources of foreign currency.
However, “Beijing has called for steps to renew dialogue.”
John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, says the visit will focus more on improving relations between China and North Korea and less on the nuclear missile programme.
“Everyone’s looking for a breakthrough on the impasse over the nuclear missile programme," he said, according to Politico, "and obviously that’s part of the mix, but this looks more like the main focus is on improving the Xi, Kim channel somewhat and seeing what can be done.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Trump's strikes on Iran: a 'spectacular success'?
In Depth Military humiliations 'expose the brittleness' of Tehran's ageing regime, but risk reinforcing its commitment to its nuclear program
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Iran nukes program set back months, early intel suggests
Speed Read A Pentagon assessment says US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites only set the program back by months, not years. This contradicts President Donald Trump's claim.
-
Trump gives himself 2 weeks for Iran decision
Speed Read Trump said he believes negotiations will occur in the near future
-
What would a US strike on Iran mean for the Middle East?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION A precise attack could break Iran's nuclear programme – or pull the US and its allies into a drawn-out war even more damaging than Iraq or Afghanistan
-
US says Trump vetoed Israeli strike on Khamenei
Speed Read This comes as Israel and Iran pushed their conflict into its fourth day
-
After Israel's brazen Iran attack, what's next for the region and the world?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Following decades of saber-rattling, Israel's aerial assault on Iranian military targets has pushed the Middle East to the brink of all-out war
-
Why Israel is attacking Iran now
The Explainer A weakened Tehran and a distracted Donald Trump have led Benjamin Netanyahu to finally act against long-standing foe
-
Trump says Putin vowed retaliation for Kyiv strike
speed read The Russian president intends to respond to Ukraine's weekend drone strikes on Moscow's warplanes