David Pierson

On a rare visit to North Korea, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, projected unity but also sought to remind Kim Jong-un that he is the senior partner in their alliance.

As Xi Jinping visits Pyongyang, he faces an emboldened North Korean dictator, whose alliance with Russia has reduced his dependence on China.

The Taiwan president’s spokeswoman said China used “baseless pretexts” to punish journalists, which she called evidence that Beijing was a “troublemaker.”

When a remote Pacific village asked for help with rowdy youth, the Chinese police arrived with a surveillance system. Then came the backlash.

Meeting President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Beijing, China’s leader called for a halt to fighting in the Middle East and took a veiled swipe at the United States.

With the upheaval in the Persian Gulf disrupting oil and gas supplies, Russia is looking to deepen its energy ties to China.

Having fought the Trump administration to a draw, China’s Xi Jinping is proposing “constructive strategic stability,” aimed at drawing lines he thinks the U.S. should not cross.

Encounters with other world leaders reveal a side of China’s leader that the public rarely sees, and offer clues to how he will approach President Trump in Beijing.

America’s ability to deter China in a war over Taiwan is weakened, Chinese analysts say, giving Beijing leverage in an upcoming summit with President Trump.