China checks if Seoul still cool on joining US-led Quad alliance
- In a sign of Beijing’s concern about ‘Indo-Pacific Nato’, sources say officials have been asking South Korea about its intentions
- So far Seoul has maintained a strategic ambiguity towards the grouping as it strives to avoid taking sides with either Beijing or Washington
The diplomats said Seoul had received a number of inquiries from Chinese officials about whether it intended to join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The South Korean government has consistently said it has not received an invitation to do so.
Observers do not rule out the possibility that South Korea may drop its strategic ambiguity towards the Quad and warned of a “significant challenge” to China’s security in East Asia if that were to occur.
“The US has been wooing South Korea and seeking to integrate the US’ alliances, respectively with Japan and South Korea, into a triangular alliance. If South Korea joins the Quad, chances are it will eventually lead to such a trio – in other words, a little Nato in Northeast Asia, which will certainly pose a serious challenge to China’s security,” said Qian Yong, associate professor of Zhejiang University’s Korea Institute.
Bi Yingda, a research fellow with the Institute for Korean Peninsula Studies at Shandong University, said an anti-China coalition in East Asia would put China under huge pressure and raise the risks of military conflict.
“An anti-China multilateral alliance in East Asia would heighten confrontation in the region. Subsequently, Beijing would move closer to Russia and side with North Korea over the peninsula issues. When that day comes, it could easily evolve into confrontations between two camps, in other words a cold war. In history that is usually how a war has started too,” Bi said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called the Quad grouping a Nato in the Indo-Pacific and warned it would severely undermine regional security. Beijing has also accused Washington of forming a clique to curtail China’s rise.