Anti-China sentiment

Beijing needs to exhibit some diplomatic maturity over the recent naval tragedy.

There are worrisome signs that anti-China sentiment will erupt again here as China is sitting on the fence over the North Korean torpedoing of a South Korean warship. The United States, the EU, Japan and other major countries, excluding China, strongly condemned North Korea's provocative and inhumane act. China is still wavering.

Before the announcement, China had maintained that scientific and verifiable evidence should be reported on the cause of the sinking. Moreover, China gave a high-profile red-carpet treatment to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, more prominent than that President Lee Myung-bak received in Beijing. China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said it is a sovereign issue. Her statement was telecast nationwide here and inflamed South Koreans into labeling China as arrogant.

South Korea has limits in punishing the assailant, except for diplomatic penalties. Any economic retaliation will not be effective because 70 percent of North Korea's trade is dependent on China.

China's priority may be stability in North Korea. Any chaos inside the North might lead to the exodus of tens of thousands of North Koreans into China. A change in the status quo on the Korean Peninsula might divert China's leadership from focusing on its internal growth and stability.

China has two options. She risks encountering growing international criticism for its blind backing of the wayward North Korean regime. Or she joins in the global sanctions against the terrorist country.

When China unfailingly supports North Korea, it is hard for the majority of South Koreans to understand. This will fan less friendly sentiment toward China.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, Korea and China have made noteworthy progress in trade. The phenomenal economic expansion was not matched by political, diplomatic, cultural and social maturity.

It is well-known that anti-Korean sentiment is widespread among the Chinese, especially the Internet-savvy younger generation. This less friendly attitude originates from some South Koreans' ill-treatment of Chinese people, including those with Korean ethnicity, criticism of China's exports of harmful products and media exaggeration of the darker sides of China.

The anti-China sentiment is also latent here. In the winter Asian Games and the Summer Olympics, the host cities and Chinese fans irked Koreans. It claimed that Mt. Baekdu, located along the border of China and North Korea, is Chinese territory. Chinese fans always jeered Korean athletes in Olympic matches. China had in vain tried to block Gangneung City's application to list the Dano Festival as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Exports of sometimes harmful products have also angered South Korean consumers.

China will earn worldwide respect only when it is proactive in fighting military provocation, terrorism, injustice and human rights. China cannot gain respect just through the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai Exposition. South Koreans are watching how China will respond to the naval tragedy which killed 46 South Korean seamen.