A Strategic and Emotional Partnership: China’s Policy toward North Korea under the Xi Jinping Leadership

Since Xi Jinping took the position of President of the People’s Republic of China, North Korea-China relations have been nothing less than a renewal of the alliance. This is a subtle change, brought about first of all by the missile launching in 2012 and then by the 3rd nuclear test, and finally by the deteriorating situation in the Northeast Asia. Both sides’ policy toward the other has become a “new game,” in which both have had different strategic goals from one another. The difference of the strategic orientation between China and North Korea has produced a new transformation beyond the traditional alliance officially called a “blood alliance.”

Dr. LI's research interests include U.S-North Korea relationsand China-North Korea relations. Dr. Li has been a Visiting Scholar at the Brookings Institution, Johns Hopkins SAIS, Incheon Development Institute (ROK) and Kim Il-Sung University (DPRK). He is a graduate of the Renmin University of China where he earned a PhD in National Strategy, MA in International Relations & Political Science, and BA in International Politics & Political Science. His main publications: A Study of Contemporary Western Theories of Grand Strategy (book), “Evaluating the Bush Administration’s North Korea Strategy,” (Journal of Contemporary Asia- Pacific Studies), An Emotional and Strategic Partner: China’s Humanitarian Aid to North Korea in the 21st Century(Brookings Institution).