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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.”
-
August 24 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in voting
Cartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugs
Talking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
What will security guarantees for Ukraine look like?
Today's Big Question From boots on the ground to economic sanctions, here are the measures that might stop Russia taking another bite out of Ukraine
-
Will Ukraine trade territory for peace?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Kyiv’s defences are wearing thin but a land swap is constitutionally impossible and crosses Zelenskyy's red lines
-
Russia tries Ukraine land grab before Trump summit
Speed Read The incursion may be part of Putin's efforts to boost his bargaining position
-
Europe counters Putin ahead of Trump summit
Speed Read President Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week for Ukraine peace talks
-
Is Trump's new peacemaking model working in DR Congo?
Talking Point Truce brokered by the US president in June is holding, but foundations of a long-term peace have let to be laid
-
Who wins from a Trump-Putin meeting?
Today's Big Question Trump might get the leaders together for a photo op but brokering a peace deal won’t be easy
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
US and EU reach trade deal
Speed Read Trump's meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen resulted in a tariff agreement that will avert a transatlantic trade war