China Heeds Yun’s ‘One China’ Economy Statement

At the conference held for the first time in two years, the leaders of Korea and China agreed to strengthen cooperation between Korea and China to continue developing their relationship. However, it is estimated that there was a difference in outlook between the two countries, with China emphasizing continued cooperation between Korea and China even in the rapidly changing international situation, while South Korea emphasized dialogue with China on issues such as North Korea-Russia arms. cooperation.

Korea: “North Korea-Russia military cooperation” · · · China: “South Korea-China cooperation in the era of Trump”

On the front page of the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, on the 17th, an article was prominently published with pictures showing that President Yoon Seok-yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit meeting in Lima, Peru, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference was held on the 15th (local time). This article was placed at the top right of the front page and stood out more than the article about the meeting with the Prime Minister of Chile, the host country of APEC, as well as the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, and Japan, which were published together too.

According to Chinese reports, during his meeting with President Yun, President Xi Jinping said, “The international and regional situation has undergone great changes since we met in Bali (summit APEC) two years ago.” He continued, “No matter how the situation changes, China and Korea must maintain their original intention of establishing diplomatic relations, maintaining good neighborly relations, and ‘maintain the goal of mutual benefit and mutual benefit in terms of geographic proximity, cultural ties, and economic convergence between the two countries.” “We need to strengthen exchanges and cooperation,” he said.

President Xi also emphasized, “We must strengthen high-level exchanges between the two countries and promote understanding and trust to realize common development,” and added, “I expect Korea to take more steps convenient for Chinese people to visit Korea.”

The Chinese side said President Yoon responded by saying, “Our stance on respecting the ‘One China’ policy will not change” and “we will further strengthen economic and trade cooperation between the two country.” He also said that President Yoon welcomed China’s visa-free treatment for Korean citizens and said he hoped to strengthen people-to-people exchanges with China and promote friendship between the two peoples.

However, the content that emphasized China’s constructive role in North Korea-Russia military cooperation at the summit was omitted from China’s announcement.

In this regard, China’s official Xinhua News Agency explained, “If you look at the issues discussed by the two sides, you can see that the focus of interest of each side is different.” While South Korea hopes to strengthen communication with China regarding cooperation between North Korea and Russia, China is adamant that Korea-China relations must continue to develop healthily and steadily no matter how ‘ the regional and international situation will change.

Yun Chang’s ‘One China’ Opinion… Willingness to improve Korea-China relations

In particular, the news agency described President Yoon’s statement that he would not change his stance on respecting the ‘one China’ policy as a ‘change in attitude’. Last year, President Yoon was criticized by China for ‘interfering in internal affairs’ for what he said related to Taiwan, such as saying, “The affairs of Taiwan and Korea are a North of global affairs. ” Since then, Korea-China relations have worsened, and at the APEC summit last year, the two leaders only exchanged brief greetings and did not even hold a summit.

Wang Junsheng, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua News Agency, “The most important reason is that Korea-China relations have deteriorated since President Yoon in that role President Yoon has repeatedly made irresponsible comments about China’s core interests, such as China’s territorial sovereignty “This is because it touched the Maginot Line,” he said Korea and China.”

Researcher Wang said, “Today, as the regional and international situation is changing rapidly, some bilateral relations and the great impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are affecting on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and the prospect of Trump’s re-election. to bring uncertainty to the countries of the region.” It was explained that President Yoon changed his attitude against this background and expressed his will to improve Korea-China relations.

At the same time, Researcher Wang said, “The fact that the two leaders met face-to-face this time and talked about bilateral relations and regional issues shows that the feeling in China-Korea relations getting better,” he said, “China and Korea will strengthen cooperation to respond to uncertainty.” He also said, “We must pursue the common interests of the region.”

In fact, China has recently begun to improve relations with neighboring countries before the launch of Trump’s second term, and is especially actively working to improve relations with Korea. A representative example is the introduction of Korea as a ‘unilateral visa-free’ country earlier this month, and the appointment of a high-ranking person to the post of Chinese ambassador to Korea, which had been vacant for four months. In this regard, Lee Seong-hyeon, a senior researcher at George HW “Do it,” emphasized.

Beijing reporter information = Bae In-sun [email protected]