23.03.22_Edi_

North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un has conducted more missile tests this year than in the past five years combined. And it is only March. Beijing is upset about rockets fired at its border. Regardless, China still needs North Korea as a buffer between itself and US ally South Korea. It was only in late February that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation with Pyongyang. A difficult diplomatic act, notes Christiane Kuehl. On closer inspection, the similarities to Russia are striking. Both North Korea and Russia are important partners against the West. Yet both act unpredictably. And now the international community also sees Russia, like North Korea, as an aggressor. This is why the back-and-forth of Chinese communication with its difficult allies seems so similar.