It is always tricky to deal with North Korea, indisputably the world’s most isolated, unpredictable and dangerous country. No less tricky – as far as matters concerned with Korean affairs – is dealing with China, the North’s sole remaining socialist ally and patron.

A senior North Korean official’s surprise visit to China earlier this week – the first of its kind in three years – is yet another piece of evidence that the international community will not be able to end the North Korean nuclear issue without overcoming the challenge of working with China.

Countries like China and North Korea do not disclose all the details of such a visit, but what is certain is that the two countries wanted to send the message to the world that the North’s nuclear issue will not remain a hurdle in efforts to pull their relations out of the lowest level in years.

Chinese and North Korean state media said that Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party’s central committee, delivered a verbal message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Kim expressed the North’s vow to develop and boost the two countries’ friendship, they said. 

Xi responded by saying that China “highly values the friendly cooperative relations” with North Korea and that the country is willing to “reinforce and develop” relations.

As if to back up the amicable atmosphere of the meeting between Xi and Ri, China’s state media carried the scene of a smiling Xi receiving Ri. That contrasted with a similar scene in 2013, in which Xi was seen grim-faced when receiving a special envoy of Kim after the North’s third nuclear test, which deteriorated their bilateral ties. 

What also should be noted is that Xi, who strongly urged the North to return to six-party talks and abandon nuclear weapons three years ago, did not directly mention the nuclear issue, with state media only saying that he urged “all parties to remain calm and exercise restraint” on the Korean Peninsula.

This gives the impression that although the country joined the U.N.-led sanctions against North Korea over its latest nuclear and missile provocations, China does not see the North as the only source of the problem. If so, China is greatly mistaken.

Perhaps China wants to keep Pyongyang under its wing, partly because of its hegemonic rivalry with the U.S. In fact, Xi received Ri’s 40-strong delegation shortly after U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam – China’s former enemy – and Japan, Beijing’s perennial competitor.

It is also apparent that the North wanted to use Ri’s visit to show that whatever it does, China will not abandon it. 

As a matter of fact, the North’s state media reported that Ri, in a separate meeting with his Chinese counterpart, said that the North will pursue parallel development of nuclear weapons and the economy as a priority government policy.

It is also no coincidence that on the day Ri met with Xi, the North’s state broadcaster released a video image of a submarine-launched ballistic missile it had test-fired in April and attempted the launch of another “Musudan” intermediate-range ballistic missile.

In the latest action to add pressure on the North, the U.S. blacklisted the country as a primary money laundering concern a day after Xi met Ri. The whole world knows which way – China’s or the U.S.’s – is the right direction.