China summons South Korean envoy in tit-for-tat move amid row over ‘betting on the US’ comments

Seoul should ‘seriously’ look at problems in bilateral ties, China’s assistant foreign minister Nong Rong tells South Korean ambassador
Diplomatic dressing down comes after Seoul summoned Chinese envoy over his remarks to South Korean opposition leader on rejecting ‘outside interference’

South Korea

Vanessa Caiin Shanghai

Published: 9:00pm, 11 Jun 2023

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China summoned South Korea’s ambassador in a tit-for-tat response, after Seoul called in Beijing’s envoy to issue a “stern” warning over his remarks cautioning against favouring the US over China.

Assistant foreign minister Nong Rong met South Korean ambassador Chung Jae-ho in Beijing to “lodge representations”, and called on Seoul to “reflect deeply on the problems” in bilateral ties and “take them seriously”, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday.

“[We] hope South Korea will move in the same direction with China, and work together with the Chinese side to make positive efforts to promote the healthy and stable development of relations between the two countries,” the statement quoted Nong as saying.

The diplomatic dressing-down came after South Korea summoned Chinese ambassador Xing Haiming on Friday over a potential “intervention in internal affairs”.

Meeting South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung at the Chinese embassy on Thursday, Xing had said Seoul should “fend off outside interference when it handles relations with China”.

“At a time when the United States [is making] an all-out effort to strangle China, some people are betting on the US emerging as the victor and China the loser,” he said, calling it “a misjudgment and a failure to see the historical trends”.

“But what I can say for sure is that those who bet that China will lose out [to the US] will certainly regret it later.”

Lee’s party has criticised the office of President Yoon Suk-yeol over South Korea’s worsening ties with China.

Noting that relations between Beijing and Seoul faced considerable difficulties, Xing said: “Frankly, the responsibility does not lie with China”.

Chinese ambassador Xing Haiming (right) with South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, ahead of their meeting in Seoul last week. Photo: AP

South Korea’s first vice foreign minister Chang Ho-jin summoned Xing on Friday, and “sternly warned” that his comments were a breach of diplomatic protocol and could amount to an “intervention in internal affairs”.

Nong told Chung that it was the Chinese envoy’s responsibility to have a wide range of discussions, according to the foreign ministry statement.

“It is the duty of the Chinese ambassador to have extensive engagement and exchanges with people from all walks of life in South Korea, with the aim of enhancing understanding, promoting cooperation and maintaining and promoting the development of China-South Korea relations,” Nong said.

His comments echoed those made on Friday by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, who said it was part of the ambassador’s job to engage with the South Korean government and political parties “to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest and share China’s position and concerns”.

The past months have seen heightened tensions between China and South Korea, as Seoul moves closer to treaty ally Washington’s position.

Bilateral ties were at a low point and could worsen, Xing told Seoul-based broadcaster MBC late last month, but added that China was determined for relations to improve.

His assessment came after a war of words lasting weeks in April, as Beijing and Seoul summoned each other’s ambassadors over claims and counterclaims related to Taiwan, in response to Yoon’s suggestion that the self-ruled island represented a “global issue”.