The world's gaze will be on Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore next week but there is a third player in the diplomatic event of the year; China's Xi Jinping, who will be watching closely from the sidelines

China has a lot at stake in the pursuit of peace on the Korean peninsula and would benefit substantially from any reduction in the pariah status of North Korea. Already, the two have edged closer. The resumption of flights from Beijing to Pyongyang this week is the latest sign that relations between China and its smaller Communist neighbour are better than they have been in decades.