(VOVworld)- Chinese President Xi Jinping began a 2-day state visit to the Republic of Korea on Thursday. The visit is predictable given complicated situation in the region.

This is Xi Jinping’s third visit to Seoul but just the first as China’s leader. The visit reciprocates Korean President Park Geun Hye’s visit to China in June. This is the first time China’s top leader has visited Seoul before Pyongyang, a reflection of Beijing’s changing foreign policy.

Disregarding Pyongyang, regarding Seoul

Visiting Seoul instead of Pyongyang reflects the fractured relationship China now has with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Over the past few years, despite being China’s ally and having an economic dependence on China, Pyongyang, under Kim Jong Un’s leadership, has vexed China on several occasions and has even considered China hostile to its missile and nuclear weapons tests.

With an increasingly indifferent relationship with China, Pyongyang has been moving closer to Tokyo- Beijing’s counterweight in the region. Following several rounds of talks on kidnapped Japanese citizens, the relationship between Japan and North Korea has developed rapidly. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to visit Pyongyang this year, an indication of improved bilateral ties. Pyongyang is seeking investments and aid from Tokyo, which has angered China’s leaders. President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seoul is a mark of Beijing’s disappointment with Pyongyang.

Creating an anti-Japan alliance

Visiting Seoul is an opportunity for Beijing to forge an anti-Japan alliance with the relationship increasingly strained by past and on-going territorial disputes at sea. Prime Minister Abe is working to revise Japan’s Peace Constitution to allow the Japanese army to exercise the right to collective self-defense. This effort has triggered strong reaction from Beijing and Seoul and furnished motive for these two countries to move closer together.

China’s intent to woo South Korea was reflected in Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Seoul last month to begin upgrading bilateral ties.

Breaking isolation

The Chinese President’s visit to Seoul hopes to win some support from South Korea for China’s complicated and risky foreign policy. Sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the East Sea have encouraged the US to intervene more directly in the region. In April, the US for the first time included Japan’s Senkaku Island among its defense priorities and said it supports ASEAN countries in their maritime disputes with China. These developments have isolated China and let it to seek support from South Korea. It will take Beijing a long time, however, to gain full support from Seoul because of the close bond between Seoul and Washington. The US has troops in the Republic of Korea. It won’t be easy for Seoul to trade its relationship with Washington for short-term support from Beijing.