Xi Jinping calls on Yoon Suk-yeol to ‘eliminate disturbances’ as China, South Korea mark 30 years of ties
- Congratulatory letters read out at receptions in Beijing and Seoul, with Xi hailing ‘good neighbours’ and Yoon expressing hope for face-to-face talks
- Xi also called on South Korea to respect China’s core interests while Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Seoul to oppose ‘decoupling and breaking links’
Beijing has called on Seoul to respect its core interests and oppose “decoupling” as the neighbours marked 30 years of diplomatic ties at a tense time in the relationship.
Their messages were read out at receptions in Beijing and Seoul on Wednesday by the Chinese and South Korean foreign ministers, Wang Yi and Park Jin.
In his letter, Xi said he was willing to strengthen “strategic communication” with Yoon “at this critical moment” for bilateral ties and the world, which he said had entered “a new period of turbulence and transformation”.
He said the two countries should “respect and trust each other, accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns”, while “eliminating disturbances … to jointly create an even better future for bilateral relations”, according to a transcript on the foreign ministry’s website.
At the reception in Beijing, Wang hailed the decision to normalise bilateral ties in 1992 – despite opposition from Chinese ally North Korea – as a visionary “ice-breaking” decision that began their close trade ties.
China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, while South Korea is China’s fourth-largest export destination. In the past 30 years, bilateral trade volume has surged from over US$5 billion in 1992 to US$360 billion, with two-way investment exceeding US$100 billion, Wang said, according to a ministry statement.
He also urged Seoul to “respect each other’s social systems and development paths”, speed up talks on a free-trade agreement, oppose “decoupling and breaking links” and avoid disruptions to supply chains.
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Analysts said the messages from Xi and Wang underlined Beijing’s wariness over the Yoon administration’s political and geo-economic tilt towards Washington.
Chinese ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming was blunt in an interview with Yonhap news agency last week. “Artificial ‘decoupling’ does not suit the interests of the two nations and public sentiment, and it can never be realised,” he said, referring to the chip alliance.
Xing accused the US of creating “small groupings” designed to ostracise China and said other countries would be damaged by helping Washington’s “political purpose”.
About 25 per cent of South Korea’s total exports went to China last year, and Xing said that included 60 per cent of exports in the chip sector, according to Yonhap.
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South Korean President Yoon in his message also vowed to pursue “new ways of cooperating” with China and urged Beijing to play a constructive role in breaking the stalemate in negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear development.
“I hope that high-level exchanges will be promoted and substantive cooperation will be strengthened in various fields such as economic security, including global supply chains, in order to achieve specific results that can be felt by both peoples,” he said.
Sun Xingjie, a regional affairs expert at Jilin University, said despite the “initial posturing” Yoon’s approach on China had been similar to that of his predecessor Moon Jae-in.
“Towards the end of his tenure [Moon] adopted balanced diplomacy in dealing with China and the US,” he said. “[The Yoon administration’s] stance on the sensitive issues such as the deployment of THAAD is still within our expected range.”
But Seoul has tended to tread more carefully than other US allies on Beijing’s “core interests” – sensitive issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Sun said a potential meeting between Xi and Yoon later this year on the sidelines of the Apec or Group of 20 summits could have a “positive impact” and that the two sides needed new thinking to improve ties.
“China and South Korea need to look beyond the geopolitical balance of power and try to position their ties on a broader basis of ensuring peace in Northeast Asia and the Korean peninsula,” Sun said. “That could help to stabilise bilateral ties.”
Kim Jae-cheol, a professor of international relations at the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul, said relations between the two countries were at a turning point.
“Changes in circumstances, such as increasing negative perceptions of China in Korea and profound changes in the nature of Korea-China economic relations, also contribute to the necessity and possibility of adjusting bilateral relations,” he said.
Additional reporting by Erika Na
