China and North Korea Exchange High-Level Visits Amid Deepening Russia Ties

China and North Korea have engaged in a series of reciprocal high-level visits, including talks between Workers' Party secretary Jo Yong Won and Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning in Pyongyang on July 15, and a prior trip by North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song to Beijing from July 10-12 where he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping. These exchanges, officially commemorating the 65th anniversary of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, come amid a shifting geopolitical landscape. Notably, China has refrained from raising North Korea's nuclear issues in official readouts, a move interpreted as de facto recognition of Pyongyang as a nuclear-armed state. The visits follow Xi's first trip to North Korea in seven years and occur as Pyongyang deepens its ties with Moscow, including providing ammunition and troops for Russia's war in Ukraine in exchange for suspected economic aid and missile technology. Beijing appears to be aligning more closely with North Korea, creating space for Pyongyang to evade U.S. and U.N. sanctions while strengthening bilateral cooperation.