Chinas leaders rolled out the welcome mat for Kim Jong Il yesterday but
imposed a news blackout as they prepared for difficult discussions with the
reclusive North Korean leader.

A motorcade, believed to be carrying Mr Kim, swept into Beijing in the
afternoon, just in time for an evening banquet with President Hu. There was
no official confirmation of the event; local media resorted to echoing
foreign reports to discuss the visit.

It was likely that President Hu entertained his guest with a stilted evening
of sharks fin soup and braised abalone at the Great Hall of the People ” a
very different event from the feast of Peking duck served up six years ago.
Back then they were able to celebrate a diplomatic triumph: to his hosts
delight, Mr Kim had agreed to take part in international talks about his
nuclear programme.

Chinese Communist leaders were not so pleased two years later when their
awkward North Korean comrade tore up that deal, and tested a nuclear device.
The diplomatic fallout left Beijing embarrassed and furious, as it came to
terms with the limits of its influence. This time, China seems ready to
gamble again that Mr Kim, weakened by illness and with his economy in ruins,
can be persuaded to return to the negotiating table.

As his 40-vehicle convoy sped into the capital, Mr Kim knew that China would
seek concessions, but he and his hosts meet with different agendas. Mr Kim
is seeking Chinese support as tensions rise with Seoul over the sinking of a
warship by a suspected North Korean submarine. Beijing wants the North to
return to talks and come clean over its nuclear programmes.

Mr Kim, 68, is making his first trip to China in four years, and his first
foray abroad since a suspected stroke in 2008. After crossing the border
early on Monday in an armoured train, he arrived at a hotel looking gaunt
and walking with a limp. His brush with death two years ago and his desire
to install his son as heir could mean he is prepared to cut a deal.

Beijing may have agreed to the visit after receiving indications that the
œDear Leader was ready to return to six-party nuclear talks involving the
two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US. Just as possibly, Beijing may
have calculated that the prestige of an invitation to the Chinese capital
was the most effective ploy to win him over.

China, anxious to avoid the collapse of its neighbour and instability on its
border, wants North Korea to co-operate more with the international
community. But Pyongyang insists that it will not return to talks until UN
sanctions are lifted, and the US agrees discussions on a formal peace
treaty.

Beijing must now also deal with a new factor in its goal of a nuclear-free
Korean Peninsula. It will be looking for assurances from Mr Kim that his
navy was not involved in the sinking in March of the Cheonan. The North
remains the prime suspect and the US and Seoul have said that the incident
could delay talks. Mr Kim also has pressing problems at home. He must be
hoping that he can persuade Beijing to pour in more of the aid that keeps
his country running amid fears of an imminent famine.

China may be running out of patience, but its options are limited: offering
yet more aid in return for small concessions. Beijing is also under pressure
from Washington. Philip Crowley, the US State Department spokesman, said:
œWe would trust that if there are meetings with high-level Chinese officials
that they will stress, as we do, that the only route forward for North Korea
is through the six-party process.