A secretive meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and China’s Xi Jinping this week showcased the enduring bonds between the two communist countries. The message to the United States: Any moves on North Korea must go through Xi.
Read the full story by Emily Rauhala and Anna Fifield.
The alliance between China and North Korea is rooted in the Korean War, and their close ties have persisted even as the regime in Pyongyang grew increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. An official statement by China, released Wednesday, indicated that both sides may seek to return to times when China did not see itself forced to agree to Western-led sanctions against North Korea.
Read the full, annotated statement.
Still, Kim's visit to Beijing took many observers by surprise. For his first foreign trip as North Korean leader, Kim followed a blueprint put together by his father, Kim Jong Il, when he chose to travel by train, as Adam Taylor observed.
Six other important stories
1. New jeans, new schools, new worries: North Korean family settles into South Korea
North Korean defectors hug in a hotel room after arriving from their long journey escaping North Korea. (Paula Bronstein for The Washington Post)
Anna Fifield, The Washington Post's Tokyo bureau chief, first met the family on the banks of the Mekong River last August, just 12 days after they escaped from North Korea. Now, just a few weeks after emerging from the South Korean government’s resettlement program for North Korean refugees, they are settling into everyday life and preparing to send their children to school.
Fifield describes the journey of one family that fled the regime in Pyongyang and is now adjusting to their new life abroad.
2. After U.S. expels 60 diplomats, Russia does what it’s best at: Trolling
About two dozen nations decided to expel more than 100 Russian spies and diplomats this week, a development that may pose practical challenges to the Kremlin’s ability to gather intelligence overseas. Russia, however, mostly appeared unfazed. The diplomatic sanctions prompted cheekiness, ridicule and trolling in response — all seemingly intended to reduce the gravity of the situation.
Read the full story.
3. As diplomats are expelled, flowers are laid outside Russian embassies for fire victims
People place candles and flowers in front of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, in honor of Kemerovo shopping mall fire victims on March 27. (Raigo Pajula/AFP/Getty Images)
At least 64 people, most of them children, were killed in a fire at a mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on Sunday. In the same week that Western countries were punishing Russia with diplomatic expulsions, flowers and other expressions of tribute were being left outside Russian embassies around the world.
Read the full story by Adam Taylor.
4. Stop and search? This poor community in Rio says yes, please.
Brazilians want security, and they are backing heavy-handed tactics to get it. To the chagrin of critics — but cheers from much of the public — one of those tactics is deploying the military to fight crime. Rather than view the move as an invasion, violence-weary residents of the favelas, or shantytowns, hailed it as a liberation.
Read the full story by Anthony Faiola and Marina Lopes.
Brazil's armed forces organized a social services event in Rio de Janeiro's Vila Kennedy favela on March 17. (Lianne Milton for The Washington Post)
5. Egypt’s farcical election and the long Arab winter
However long it takes to tabulate the result of this week's presidential election in Egypt, the winner is not in doubt. President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi will secure a fresh mandate after his government detained, intimidated or otherwise sidelined any real challengers ahead of the vote.
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