Wang Yi's visit highlights differences in Korea, China's priorities

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during his meeting on Nov. 27 with National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's Nov. 25 to 27 visit to Seoul has left more questions than answers as the two countries showed some differing priorities in bilateral relations.

After President Moon Jae-in received Wang at Cheong Wa Dae on the afternoon of Nov. 26, the presidential office stressed cooperation for regional peace, highlighting the need for the two countries to work together for a proposal made at the United Nations General Assembly last month for a Northeast Asia cooperative framework on health and disease control involving the two Koreas, China, Japan and Mongolia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that "State Councillor Wang expressed full support for the initiative, offering to continue close communication to promote it."

Also, Cheong Wa Dae and the ministry underlined bilateral cooperation on COVID-19; the establishment of a roadmap for deepening bilateral ties on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2022; cooperation on Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Korea following COVID-19 control worldwide; and cooperation for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, which Moon sees as an opportunity for peace diplomacy ― along with the 2021 Tokyo Olympics ― to improve inter-Koreans tie and resuscitate talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

But the press releases from the Chinese side have not placed much importance on the issues mentioned in the press releases from the Korean side.

Rather, Beijing highlighted economic and trade priorities following Wang's visit. In particular, Beijing has spotlighted Wang's visit as an accelerator for the Korea-China-Japan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations that started in 2012. Ahead of Wang's successive visits to Japan and Korea last week, Xi said that China would "speed up negotiations for the China-Japan-ROK free trade agreement," at the opening ceremony of the third China International Import Expo, Nov. 4, hours after U.S. presidential election polls closed. Wang also put a heavy focus on the trilateral FTA during his visit to Tokyo before arriving in Seoul, Nov. 25.

For China, the next five to 10 years are crucial in its competition with the U.S. and Beijing is relying on its two important neighbors, according to experts. "Creating a regional value chain with Korea and Japan will give China the foundation it needs to survive the U.S.-China strategic competition," Kim Heung-kyu, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Ajou University and head of the university's U.S.-China Policy Institute, told The Korea Times. "That is why it is extremely important for China to create new formats of regional cooperation, including the Korea-China-Japan FTA."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also highlighted swift action on accelerating the Korea-China FTA as one of the 10 key points of the foreign ministers' meeting during Wang's Seoul visit. "The two sides will reach a phase two deal for the China-ROK free trade agreement as soon as possible, and roll out a joint roadmap for economic and trade cooperation (2021-2025) at an early date to create more enabling conditions for bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a press conference, Nov. 26.

"With the Korea-China-Japan FTA and the second stage of the Korea-China FTA, what will happen is Korea's economic dependence on China will deepen, and as a result, Korea will be more deeply influenced by China. In East Asia, China sees chances of winning in the U.S.-China rivalry if its two allies, South Korea and Japan, are not tilted toward the U.S. For this, the best card is to deepen economic cooperation with Japan and Korea," Lee Seong-hyon, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute, told The Korea Times.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second from right, arrives at the National Assembly, Nov. 27, the last day of his three-day visit to Korea. Yonhap

Wang's visit is seen to have come short of expectations among the Korean public for the resolution of the two countries' conflict on the 2017 deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system here, as he reportedly told the Korean side to "take better care of sensitive issues."

"With Wang's high-level of position in Chinese government, there were certain issues that the two countries should have seen more progress on through the talks between the foreign ministers. But the THAAD dispute and China's restrictions on Korean entertainment remain unresolved. There was no progress on the issue of Xi's visit to Korea," Lee added.

Experts say one of the ways to expedite bilateral relations would be to continue cooperation on issues of mutual interest, such as economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and trade.

"Trust in China has plummeted with its crackdown on human rights, Beijing's military assertiveness challenging stability in Asia, and COVID-19 poisoning globalization. Wang's diplomacy tells other countries to stay out of China's domestic affairs, respect Beijing's power and influence, and cooperate economically to recover from the pandemic. Seoul should object to the first two points while agreeing with the third," Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul, told The Korea Times.

"The Moon administration also wants to work with China to engage Pyongyang but understands those efforts should not undermine the security provided by the ROK-U.S. alliance. The danger for South Korea is allowing Beijing to use North Korean issues to keep Seoul quiet on China's violations of the rules-based international system."

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