China owes Korea much explanation

By Choo Jae-woo

China is once again on Korea's back. Following President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the U.S. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Seoul last month, China did not hesitate to issue a successive warning message that Korea's seemingly values-driven diplomacy is deteriorating already-damaged bilateral relations with Beijing. China felt provoked very much by President Yoon's stated opposition to a change in the status quo of the Taiwan Strait by force. Beijing defines the Taiwan question as one of its "core interests," meaning that any external interference is precluded and not tolerated. An array of criticisms and warnings naturally followed from the usual channel for the Chinese foreign ministry's spokesperson, Chinese ambassador to Korea and on a unique occasion during a Chinese foreign ministry official visit to Seoul.

China apparently is not too pleased with the way Korea is pursuing its foreign policy. China's displeasure comes from three factors. One is the impetus behind its drive towards the so-called "global pivotal state" policy. China sees the Yoon government's values- and ideology-driven policy to be bothersome for obvious reasons. Korea apparently upholds values and ideology opposite to China's. As a result, they will remain divisive on global and regional challenges as their understanding and perception of these challenges will continue to differ as long as the respective countries continue to hold different values and ideologies. The other is the Yoon government's diplomatic moves towards improving ties with Japan. Another is the consequence of this endeavor by the government. China perhaps has all the rights to be concerned about the prospective inception of a cooperative security entity that includes the U.S.

Against this background, the visit by Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, to Seoul seemed to carry two missions. One is to facilitate the improvement of bilateral ties. The other is to address China's official position on its core national interests including the Taiwan question and critical concerns of areas. Although he was the first official to visit Korea since China's Vice President Wang Qishan did to attend President Yoon's inauguration May last year, Liu obviously had a stern warning message to deliver to his Korean counterpart.

The Chinese director-general's warning is said to have gone to an unprecedented level. If the alleged report that he issued the so-called "four nos," China's intent was clear: To let Korea know who's boss. According to reports, the "four nos" are: no cooperation if China's "core interests" (such as the Taiwan issue) are interfered with; no cooperation if South Korea adopts a unilateral pro-U.S./pro-Japan foreign policy; no high-level exchanges (such as a state visit by President Xi Jinping to South Korea); and no initiative by South Korea in relation to North Korea as long as Seoul and Beijing remain at odds.

In his public appearances, Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming has been a fervent advocate of China's core interests. He insists on Korea respecting them and other key concerns of his country such as Korea's deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery, Korea's pursuit of values-based diplomacy and trilateral military cooperation with Japan and the U.S. Additionally, Xing urges that Korea completely accept the "One China" policy. He, like his colleagues in the foreign ministry, bases the demand on the 1992 Joint Communique China and Korea signed when their relationship was normalized.

For Beijing to make Seoul's commitment to "One China" valid and effective, it must also align with Korea's core interest. "One China" is righteously about respecting China's territorial integrity and sovereignty regarding the territory. In return, Korea also expects to receive the same treatment from China with respect to the same matters. It is also the reason why the Yoon government has found reciprocal respect as the baseline of its China policy. However, Beijing has allowed its jet fighters to make illegal entry into Korea's Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) on more than 600 different occasions since its drawing in 2013. It is responsible for People's Liberation Navy vessels straying over the maritime median line in the West Sea of Korea, which serves as an unofficial temporary maritime frontier as of today. Beijing owes Korea much explanation for violating Korea's territorial sovereignty.

China criticizing Korea's values-driven diplomacy proves the absence of independence and autonomy in its decision-making. Rather it reveals Korea being susceptible to America's pressure to accept its view on China as an authoritarian state. Chinese criticism is offensive to Korea as a sovereign nation. Korea was born to be a democratic state, whereas China is a communist state.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pronounced China's goal to become a modernized socialist powerhouse in 2012 and a timeline for that path in 2017. Since then, Beijing sees every aspect of competition with the U.S. as a competition between the two contrasting systems, i.e. capitalism versus socialism.

China's mission is to prove to the world the superiority of socialism over capitalism. In light of the situation, Beijing now considers Korea's values-oriented foreign policy to be overexposed. China wants the world to respect a nation's right to choose its own path to development and political system for diverse reasons. That it fails to respect Korea's rights owes much explanation. Beijing has a lot of homework to do if it is sincere about improving ties with Seoul, instead of extending unilateral criticism. China must come forward as a responsible state as it would like to define itself.

Choo Jae-woo (jwc@khu.ac.kr) is a professor of international relations at Kyung Hee University and director of the China Center at the Korea Research Institute for National Security. He was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution.