Winter Olympics: Chinese envoy says ‘irresponsible media and keyboard warriors’ stoked tensions with South Korea

‘Some people deliberately added fuel to the flames’ over Games controversies, according to ambassador Xing Haiming

But he acknowledged that relations between the neighbours had deteriorated in recent years, especially among younger generation

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A performer (second from right) in a traditional Korean hanbok dress at the Beijing Winter Games opening ceremony sparked a cultural appropriation row. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00pm, 22 Feb 2022

China’s ambassador to South Korea has blamed “irresponsible media and keyboard warriors” for a rise in anti-Chinese sentiment during the Beijing Winter Games.

But in an interview published on Monday, envoy Xing Haiming acknowledged that relations between the two neighbours had deteriorated in recent years, especially among the younger generation.

“There are many factors behind it, such as the restrictions on personnel exchanges between the two countries under the epidemic situation and the previous THAAD [dispute],” he told Yazhou Ribao, the Chinese-language news site of Aju Business Daily in Seoul.

Seoul deployed the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence anti-missile system in 2017 – a move that angered Beijing, which sees it as a security threat, and led to a backlash and economic retaliation from China.

Xing Haiming, China’s ambassador to South Korea, described the countries as “friends in adversity”. Photo: Handout

Xing said controversies at the Winter Olympics had inflamed tensions.