Following announcement of joint exercises, China postpones diplomat’s visit

Posted on : 2010-11-26 15:18 KST Modified on : 2010-11-26 15:18 KST
Analysts say China may have wished to avoid increasing pressure from the international community to contain N.Korea
 right
right

By Park Min-hee, Beijing Correspondent

 

A South Korea visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi that was originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday was abruptly postponed Wednesday night.

A South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade official said Thursday that the China contacted the South Korean Embassy in China at 11:40 p.m. on Wednesday.

“They said [the visit] had been unavoidably delayed because of scheduling reasons, and they respectfully asked for our understanding,” the official explained.

But analysts have said the notice was effectively a cancellation, given that it came just two days ahead of the visit and was given immediately after South Korea and the United States announced their joint military exercises in the West Sea. China’s decision to postpone Yang’s visit, despite the possibility that it may appear a breach of diplomatic etiquette, has been interpreted as an indirect expression of displeasure with the exercises.

Chinese foreign ministers have rarely cancelled a South Korea visit immediately beforehand without giving a clear reason.

During a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Russia on Wednesday (local time), Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said, “We are currently facing a very serious and complex political situation” on the Korean Peninsula and “the nations involved must show maximal restraint, while the international community must do what is beneficial in terms of relieving tensions,” the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

Analysts have interpreted Wen’s open remarks that China is “opposed to any military provocation” as a “multipurpose move” taking into account both Pyongyang’s provocation and the joint South Korea-U.S. exercises.

Observers have also said another factor in the postponement was the political and diplomatic burden associated with visiting South Korea, the victim of the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, amid pressure from the international community to “take a responsible role.”

China now finds itself in a dilemma, caught between pressure from the international community on one side and its traditionally close ally North Korea on the other. A South Korea visit could be interpreted as support for South Korea, and China would also face the vexing situation of having to reply to Seoul’s demands.

So far, China has appeared to be sheltering North Korea from a perspective of “refusing to take sides.”

A similar trajectory has been followed with China’s policy since the Cheonan incident. With China wary of the U.S. taking Pyongyang’s action as an opportunity to expand its influence, observers have expressed concerns about a post-Cheonan “New Cold War” scenario in which South Korea, the United States and Japan are pitted against North Korea and China.

However, in light of the major challenge North Korea’s provocation presents to China’s interests, some speculate that China will reexamine its long-term North Korea policy. Expressions of bewilderment regarding North Korea’s stubborn behavior were also evident in China’s state-run media.

In a front-page article Thursday, the Global Times described North Korea as a “raging beast” and stressed the discomfiting position facing China.

“The West is calling on China to control North Korea, but China is not North Korea’s manager, Chinese attitudes toward North Korea are divided, and Chinese diplomacy possesses no ‘miracle elixir’ for North Korea,” the article said.

With China’s policy of working to embrace Pyongyang and draw it into economic reforms floundering on the revelation of North Korea’s uranium enrichment facility and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, experts say it will be forced to revise its approach one way or another. As tensions escalate on the Korean Peninsula, attention is increasingly focusing on the activities of China, which is seen as holding the only key to keeping North Korea under control.

  

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

 

Most viewed articles