Editor’s note: The following article is an opinion piece by John Everard, a former member of the U.N. Panel of Experts and the British ambassador to Pyongyang from 2006-2008. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to North Korea in seven years has triggered a raft of speculation about the main objective of his trip, with several commentators suggesting that Xi sought to counteract the DPRK’s drift toward Russia.

But a closer look at the result of his summit with Kim Jong