Still open: waiting on events (2026-2031).
P337
China will encourage North Korea to be more aggressive toward Japan and South Korea so China can position itself as the regional peacemaker and gain leverage against Japan's remilitarization
What Jiang said
“it's to encourage North Korea to be more aggressive so that China can come in and be the peace maker”
Analysis
Xi Jinping's first North Korea visit since 2019 is interpreted as China deploying North Korea as a proxy pitbull, forcing Japan to beg China to restrain it — giving China leverage it cannot obtain through direct confrontation without triggering a Southeast Asian coalition against it.
Status history
- 2026-06-15 · Pending (claude_extract)