While everyone else came to Beijing to meet with Xi, Xi will go to North Korea to meet Kim. Kim Jong-un, in my impression, is the only player in the past decade to force China into a concession in major-power geopolitical games. By bringing North Korea and the United States close to a deal during Trump's first term, Kim created strategic pressure on China, ultimately compelling China to effectively accept North Korea's status as a nuclear power — even though China still verbally insists on the "denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Now, Kim is once again leveraging the North Korea-Russia alliance, and even the sacrifice of thousands of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia, to force China to pay serious attention to Pyongyang. Many small countries, for example Vietnam, try to balance between major powers to maximize their own interests, but I believe North Korea is the only one that has truly succeeded. Compared to Kim Jong-un's wisdom and decisiveness, most of the so-called democratic leaders in today's world aren't even fit to tie his shoes.