Since the beginning of the year, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has renounced his country’s long-standing policy of pursuing reunification with the South, while Taiwan’s January presidential election saw the defeat of Beijing’s preferred candidates. 

Taken together, these developments have placed China in a difficult position, complicating its ties with the DPRK.

On the one hand, the outcome of the Taiwanese election will push Beijing to deepen its political alignment with Pyongyang and Moscow, as China looks to cooperate more closely with countries that oppose the U.S. in order to