THAAD retaliation spurs anti-China sentiment

China’s top nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei talks with Liberty Korea Party (LKP) presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo at the party office on Yeouido, southern Seoul, Wednesday. Wu arrived in Seoul, Monday, and has been visiting presidential candidates and their key campaigners to assert China’s opposition of the planned deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in South Korea. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

China’s ongoing economic retaliation against South Korea will eventually cause embarrassing results for Beijing because it is pushing Seoul closer to Washington, analysts here said Wednesday.

Beijing’s punitive measures in response to the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery were widely believed to be aimed at fueling public concern here and intimidating presidential candidates to re-discuss the deployment in the next government.

Instead, security concerns have flared up and the major liberal presidential contenders have virtually dropped their opposition to THAAD following President Donald Trump’s administration’s repeated warnings of a possible pre-emptive attack on North Korea.

Regarding tourism, which was China’s major target, Southeast Asians are replacing Chinese tourists fast in Myeongdong and other major shopping destinations in Seoul, according to the industry sources.

In China, the number of South Korean travelers has dropped by 60 to 70 percent in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, since March after the Chinese government banned chartered flights from South Korea.

South Koreans accounted for around 70 percent of foreign tourists visiting forests and other scenic spots in Zhangjiajie.

“The public is now more concerned about national security than the economy because they’ve learned that the unpredictable Trump can actually turn his words into action.” said Hwang Tae-soon, a political analyst. “And China obviously did not expect issues on its retaliation being swept away by Trump’s hawkish rhetoric.”

Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University said the retaliation is also promoting anti-China sentiment.

He cited criticism among online users against China’s top nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei, who asserted China’s opposition toward THAAD to presidential candidates.

Wu, who arrived in Seoul, Monday, met Hong Joon-pyo of the Liberty Korea Party, Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party, Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party and senior officials from the campaign offices of presidential frontrunners Moon Jae-in and Ahn Cheol-soo.

“The anti-China sentiment can lead to a call for bolstering the Seoul-Washington security alliance, which Beijing does not want,” Park said.

A source speculated that the decrease in South Korean travelers to Zhangjiajie can affect Chinese travel agencies that sell tailor-made travel packages exclusively for South Koreans. The number of such agencies is estimated to be 40.

“Over 10 million Chinese tourists visit the city every year, meaning the tourism industry will not be hit by a decreased number of South Koreans. But the agencies whose customers are South Koreans will certainly suffer,” the source said.