hankyoreh

Chinese ambassador to South Korea

By Park Min-hee

Beijing Correspondent

Tuesday marks 18 years to the day since diplomatic relations were formed between South Korea and China. Once referred to as “Communist China,” China has now become South Korea’s largest export partner, and trade between the two countries has increased by about 22 times. After a period of smooth sailing in which they established themselves as strategic neighbors in Asia on the basis of their economic relationship, South Korea-China relations have in 2010 run up against the reef of “Cheonan diplomacy” and entered their worst quagmire since they were established.

Beijing sources familiar with the two countries’ relationship have recently been saying there are even indications that senior foreign affairs officials in China have been dodging meetings with Yu Woo-ik, South Korean ambassador to the country. From the time of the Cheonan’s sinking to the first mention of military exercises in the West Sea with the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington, China’s Foreign Ministry called the South Korean ambassador to relate China’s position.

Recently, however, proper discussions of sensitive issues are reportedly not taking place at all.

“Recently, if you meet the Chinese elder statesmen, they all say ‘no comment’ when asked about the two countries’ relations,” said one figure who has developed close friendships with Chinese people over a long period of doing business in the country. “Chinese people sense that South Korea has been pressuring the country through the strength of its ‘Big Brother’ the United States since the Cheonan sinking, and they are angry about it.”

South Korea-China relations had been heading downhill somewhat after the Lee Myung-bak administration took office, but in 2010 they have been in the danger zone. A recent editorial in China‘s state-run Global Times said, “For the sake of stability in Northeast Asia, it is crucial that South Korea comes to its senses strategically.”

Within China, there has been spreading criticism taking direct aim at the Lee administration’s diplomatic approach of going “all-in” with the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and military have repeatedly expressed “stern opposition” to the series of joint South Korea-U.S. naval training exercises, and the People’s Liberation Army responded with more than ten different public military exercises. The “China-bashing” in the South Korean media is being met with “Koreaphobia” in the Chinese media. At leading Internet discussion sites in China like Tianya, there is talk of “retribution” and “boycotts” against South Korea.

During a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Beijing on Monday, Ambassador Yu woo-ik said that South Korea-China relations are “going through an ordeal.”

“In South Korea, people expressed disappointment with China’s approach during the response to the Cheonan incident, while China expressed concern about the South Korea-U.S. military drills, and that process is still ongoing,” said Yu.

Officials at South Korean companies active in China are expressing profound concern. One said, “The honeymoon is over, and the era of conflict has started.”

“South Korea is seeing a surplus of 100 to 200 million dollars a day in China, and a deficit of 50 million dollars a day in Japan,” said another official. “It is scary just to consider how China might be looking at this situation amid its friction with South Korea.”

The South Korean community in China has reportedly been buzzing with anxiety.

Given that the reports in China’s state-run media contain a course for the Chinese leadership to shape public opinion, the fact that they have recently issued a non-stop string of coverage lambasting the joint exercises and South Korea’s excessive focus on the U.S. alliance is being perceived as a danger signal.

In China’s cyberspace, home to more than 400 million Internet users, pieces are continuously going up with comments like “China cannot sleep for the anxiety it feels because of the Lee Myung-bak administration.”

In particular, with the Chinese domestic demand market becoming increasingly important and global companies waging an life-or-death competition in the country, South Korean companies are increasingly concerned that sparks from the deteriorating relations between the two countries could spread to other areas.

Last year, LG Display and Samsung Electronics requested permission from the Chinese government to engage in a next-generation LCD effort, but the permission has been continuously postponed.

In response, an industry official said, “While there have been some efforts to protect Chinese companies and the Chinese market, it looks like considerations about deteriorating South Korea-China relations are also a factor.”

Also in an upheaval are the more than 64 thousand South Korean exchange students studying in China.

“Anti-Korea emotions have been heightening in China, and there are rumors going around that the Chinese government is going to reduce the number of South Korean exchange students or their financial aid benefits, so students are really concerned,” said Hwang, an exchange student at the graduate school of Renmin University of China.

With the recent friction in U.S.-China relations, a growing number of observers are concerned that South Korea, which has picked sides in its diplomatic proceedings, could end up as the proverbial “shrimp that gets its back broken when whales fight.”

China, which has enjoyed a rapid rise since the global financial crisis, is expanding its sphere of influence with a complete focus on its national interests. It is far more resolute than before also in its strategic competition with the United States.

“With the challenge of China and its rise as a major power on one hand, and the check of the United States at the head of the existing order on the other, a skirmish has essentially begun,” said an expert in South Korea-China relations. “And with the Korean Peninsula situated in the middle of a long-term structure of conflict, it is now obliged to find its balance judiciously, for otherwise it will have to pay too great a price.”

The proximate cause of the deterioration in South Korea-China relations may have been Cheonan diplomacy, but analysts say its ultimate case lies in the continued reinforcement of the South Korea-U.S. alliance since the Lee administration came into office, and China’s strategic discontent with this state of affairs.

“Previously, China was understanding about the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea, but it has stepped up its sense of alarm as it has watched the one-sided emphasis on the South Korea-U.S. alliance in the Lee administration’s policy,” said Chinese University of Political Science and Law Guest Professor Moon Il-hyun. “In addition to the visible problem of deteriorating South Korea-China relations, it is even more worrisome that it has become more difficult to persuade China with regard to reunification.”

Moon added, “It is time to ask ourselves how we are to harmonize the South Korea-U.S. alliance and South Korea-China relations.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]