South Korea boasts the world's 11th biggest economy, but it's fitting to ask if its diplomatic behavior matches our economic prowess. Consider, for example, our shabby treatment of Taiwan.
Only days before departing for Seoul for President Roh Moo-hyun's inauguration on Feb. 25, a group of Taiwan's legislators was abruptly told not to bother boarding the plane by their counterpart group in the National Assembly that had issued the invitation.
The cancellation was involuntary. National Assembly sources said this snub came after a strong "suggestion" from the Foreign Ministry that the presence of the Taiwanese delegation would provoke China's anger. Since Seoul established relations with Beijing in 1992, it has apparently tied to cut all political ties with Taiwan, even those outside the authority of government-to-government relations.
Lee Chung-ru (李宗儒)?, the head of the Taipei Mission in Korea, was so dismayed by this development that he is packing up and leaving, having asked Taipei to relieve him of his duties -- in a move equivalent to the recall of an ambassador in a normal diplomatic relationship. Lee, the de facto ambassador, has told friends that he is acting in desperation, as Seoul, in effect, was refusing to reciprocate South Korean legislators' visit to Taipei three years ago for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration. Five years ago, when Taiwanese legislators attended former president Kim Dae-jung's inauguration, they were seated on the platform as guests of honor.
So this development comes as a hard blow not only to the National Assembly, but also to our business community, which maintains a brisk trade with Taiwan by exporting cars and steel products, while importing computer-circuit boards and petrochemical goods. This two-way trade runs to US$11.5 billion a year, much of it in Seoul's favor. Trade with Taiwan is almost equal to that with Germany, and is especially important to South Korean farmers, who export 5,443 tonnes of apples and 7,257 tonnes of pears each year.
Cultural exchanges have been no less crucial -- students, businessmen, politicians and civil servants from the two countries have developed strong bonds over the years. About 200,000 Taiwanese tourists visit South Korea each year. And 20,000 ethnic Chinese live in South Korea, constituting the biggest minority group, most holding a Taiwanese passport.
But all this has no place in our groveling diplomacy. South Korean Buddhists have long been upset over the Foreign Ministry's ban on a visit by Tibet's exiled leader the Dalai Lama, welcomed in the US and Europe despite their relations with China, but not in Seoul.
Even former president Kim Dae-jung, a big fan of underdogs at home and abroad, was so weak-kneed regarding China that he ignored the international denunciation of Beijing's human rights violations, even though he himself was a longtime fighter for democracy who survived partly due to interventions by Amnesty International and other rights groups. In 1996, when China fired missiles as part of a military exercise aimed at blackmailing Taiwan, Seoul alone chose to remain silent, even as the US, the EU and Japan all issued critical statements.
Seoul has lamely justified its low-profile diplomacy by citing our North Korean policy. But it's been clear for some time now that our expectation that Beijing would press the North to hold a dialogue with the South, or reform and open up, has been way overblown. China essentially remains an opportunistic power, more interested in leveraging the North's nuclear issue and food aid to strengthen its grip, rather than guiding its ally to walk the path of openness and moderation. But towards its economic rival in Seoul, China has grown increasingly assertive, pressing its case on issues ranging from the North's nuclear development to Seoul's ties with Taiwan.
Clearly, China's behavior is hegemonic, even though it attacks the US and Japan for their domineering posture in the Asia-Pacific region. Our foreign ministry has been so ingratiating in responding to Beijing's every turn and twist that it's losing its bearings. As a result, China's ambassador to Seoul, Li Bin, has sometimes been criticized by the media and civic organizations for making overbearing remarks. In recent weeks, he caused an uproar by hinting that Seoul should stop calling itself an "economically central nation in East Asia" because of its "hegemonic" overtones.
Taking the cue, the Roh administration has renamed its presidential committee on turning South Korea into an economic hub in Asia by omitting the offensive phrase "economically central nation."
The complaints can go on and on. Certainly our relationship with China is too important to ignore, but not at the risk of repeating Korea's ancient tributary relations with the Qing court. Times and circumstances have changed, but not apparently the mentality of our foreign policy establishment. A good reminder of this history is seen in Seoul's western section, not far from the newly built Foreign Ministry building.
In the Yongchon district in what used to be called the Peking Pass, stands a monument that commemorates the end of Korea's suzerain relations with China in 1895. Koreans were so overjoyed by China's recognition of Korea's independence after the Sino-Japanese war that they started a nationwide fundraising campaign to dedicate Tongnipmun, or Independence Gate, in 1897, on the spot where emissaries from Beijing passed on their way to the royal palace to approve of the Korean king's coronation. The Japanese colonial government tore it down because it encouraged nationalism, but Dr. Seo Jae-pil, the first Korean ever to receive a medical degree in the US, had it promptly restored as soon as World War II ended. That should serve as a good lesson for our diplomats dealing with China.
Shim Jae Hoon is a Seoul-based journalist and commentator.
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