China’s state-run Xinhua news agency’s near-exclusive coverage of Monday’s China-South Korea meeting highlighted Beijing’s anxiety over the political optics of the visit and its desire to control the narrative, Tunghai University Cross-Strait Research Center deputy executive director Hung Pu-chao (洪浦釗) said yesterday.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) as part of Lee’s four-day trip to China, his first since taking office in June last year.
Xinhua had near-exclusive coverage of the Lee-Xi meeting, showing that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was eager to set a positive tone for the event, Hung said.
Photo: EPA
Lee’s comment that South Korea “respects” China’s “one China” policy during the meeting, as reported by Xinhua, does not indicate an abrupt change in South Korea’s Taiwan policy, nor is it a signal to other countries in the Indo-Pacific region that Seoul is changing its defense policies, he said.
South Korea’s economy and supply chains are highly interconnected with China, and it is more than willing to pay lip service for some diplomatic leeway, allowing Lee time to deal with more pressing issues, Hung said.
The CCP has consistently arranged for such statements to be made, he said, adding that Beijing is sending a message to its neighbors that, in light of an increasingly “hardline” Japan, it can still maintain its political narrative in the region.
The need for Xinhua to issue the first reports of the meeting underscores China’s anxiety about the political optics of the meeting and proves that Beijing “puts politics first” in diplomacy and economic collaboration, he said.
Taipei should not be overly concerned about other nations’ comments when meeting in China, but it should closely monitor whether their defense policies and actions have shifted toward a pro-China stance, Hung said.
Chun Kalim, a professor specializing in cross-strait relations at Hoseo University, said that Lee’s ambiguity on Taiwan during the meeting differed from his predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol.
Lee said only that South Korea “respects” the CCP’s “one China” position, while Yoon invoked protests from Beijing after stating that any conflict over Taiwan should be resolved in accordance with international norms and rules, and that Seoul resolutely opposes unilateral attempts to alter the “status quo” in the Strait, Chun said.
Discussions between Xi and Lee were focused on “resolving bilateral disputes,” and, therefore, issues involving third parties were largely avoided, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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