{"text":[[{"start":10.88,"text":"Kim Jong Un visited the Chinese border city of Dandong on Saturday to reaffirm ties with Pyongyang’s longstanding ally Beijing amid concerns North Korea was moving closer to Russia."}],[{"start":22.7,"text":"The North Korean leader toured a car factory with Wang Huning, Xi Jinping’s most important ideological adviser and a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi also attended the visit, according to Chinese state media."}],[{"start":40.08,"text":"After laying flowers at a memorial to Chinese soldiers who died during the Korean war, Kim said he had made the trip to Dandong to “honour the martyrs” who supported North Korean troops at a “critical historical juncture”. The visit came a day before the October 25 anniversary of China’s entry into the war in 1950."}],[{"start":58.96,"text":"Kim said North Korea was ready to work with China and “expand practical co-operation”. Wang Huning, who is often delegated to represent China in meetings with foreign dignitaries, said the visit was of great significance and served to deepen political mutual trust."}],[{"start":74,"text":"Analysts, however, believe that stronger ties between North Korea and Russia have caused some concern in Beijing. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, China had been the Kim regime’s most important economic ally and held significant leverage over Pyongyang."}],[{"start":90.12,"text":"But Kim’s decision to send weapons and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine has fostered a relationship that gives him another source of military and economic support."}],[{"start":100,"text":"“Basically China wants to improve ties and see that North Korea doesn’t get too close to Russia,” said Peter Ward of the Sejong Institute in Seoul. “China wants to pull North Korea in, and Kim Jong Un will flirt to get some additional benefits.”"}],[{"start":114.6,"text":"This month the two countries opened the four-lane, 3km New Yalu River Bridge connecting Dandong with Sinuiju in North Korea. Chinese premier Li Qiang said the bridge would promote economic and trade co-operation."}],[{"start":128.48,"text":"Analysts said the opening of the bridge, 12 years after it was built, signalled warmer relations between Pyongyang and Beijing. It follows the opening of a bridge between North Korea and Russia in September, strengthening Kim’s connections with both countries amid a geopolitical situation he has described as a “new Cold War”."}],[{"start":148.36,"text":"Leif-Eric Easley of Ewha University in Seoul said: “The New Yalu River Bridge reflects Chinese leaders’ belief that greater economic connectivity will contribute to regional stability, and they prioritise that logic over making benefits conditional on North Korean compliance with past international agreements.”"}],[{"start":168.04,"text":"Saturday’s trip appears to have been Kim’s first visit to China as leader without meeting Xi. Kim’s previous visit, in September 2025, included talks with the Chinese president in Beijing, followed by Xi’s return visit to Pyongyang in June this year."}],[{"start":183.4,"text":"Ward, from the Sejong Institute, suggested Saturday’s talks could have covered the possibility of Kim visiting China during November’s APEC summit in Shenzhen, amid speculation about a meeting with Donald Trump. Trump had expressed interest in meeting Kim but sounded less certain about the prospect when asked by reporters on Monday."}],[{"start":204.92,"text":"“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know,” he replied. “I’m not sure that anybody’s asking for a meeting.”"}],[{"start":213.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792891075_6083.mp3"}