China throws Trump a curveball ahead of his meeting with Kim
By Jamie Tarabay, CNN
Updated 1155 GMT (1955 HKT) March 28, 2018
Hong Kong (CNN) - The date for their meeting is still not set, but when President Donald Trump finally meets North Korea's Kim Jong Un, the specter of China will also be in the room, a potent signal to the American President that the young reclusive leader has support for his cause from the region's most formidable presence.
Along with shoring up a rocky alliance, the two-day visit by Kim to Beijing was also designed to show Washington and Seoul that Kim wasn't without his own diplomatic arsenal as he attempts to push for sanctions relief and recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power.
South Korea admitted on Wednesday that it hadn't been involved in Kim's trip to Beijing. Senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan told reporters: "What is happening now is beyond what the (government) has been predicting and (Seoul) will need to keep an eye on the situation with all possibilities in mind."
"The very fact of this meeting alone, and certainly the tenor of the Chinese statement about it, really does increase Kim Jong Un's leverage in the upcoming talks. It shows that Kim has a friend in Beijing," said Adam Mount, a senior fellow and director of the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where he covers US nuclear strategy, deterrence and North Korea.
"It means the Trump team is going to be navigating really narrow straits here. It's hard to overstate how dramatic this development is," Mount said.
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