On August 24, South Korea's president's special envoy, Park Bingsey, led a visit to China, and the foreign minister, Wang Yi, met the South Korean side in Beijing. In the face of the South Korean special envoy, Wang Yi spoke very hard, especially when talking about China's relations with Taiwan, Wang Yi not only made "three reminders", but also directly expressed dissatisfaction with the ambiguity of the South Korean side.
In this meeting, which caused public attention, Wang Yi put forward three very "heavy" statements to the Korean side, each of which focuses on the current sensitive issues between China and Korea.
One: China-South Korea relations are "in the stage of improvement and development," but far from meeting expectations
Wang Yi pointed out that China-ROK relations are currently in an "important period of improvement and development", and as early as the beginning of Lee Jae-myung's appointment, the highest level of China clearly stated through a phone call that China-ROK strategic cooperation should be promoted to a higher level.
In other words, Beijing has made clear its position and expectations, but the question is, has the Lee Zai-ming government "caught" this expectation? Judging from the current actual operation, it is obviously not satisfactory-not only refused to participate in the 93rd military parade, but also gave priority to visiting Japan and the United States.
This makes people wonder whether South Korea really "wants to repair relations" or is it taking a formality?
Second: South Korea's "softening" on the issue of Japan hurts the historical consensus between China and South Korea
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the 80th anniversary of the "restoration" of the Korean Peninsula. This should have been an opportunity for China and South Korea to jointly commemorate and consolidate historical understanding.
However, as a result, Lee Jae-myung not only refused to participate in the Chinese military parade, but went to Japan instead, and kept silent on historical issues such as comfort women and forced labor. The Korean people themselves are asking: Is this still the same Lee Jae-myung who opposed Japan's discharge of nuclear sewage and went on hunger strike?
Since history is our common wound, we should not choose "ignorance" at key points.
Third: In the Sino-US trade game, South Korea wavers from side to side
In the context of the current international trade system deep in the smog of protectionism, Wang Yi stressed that China and South Korea should jointly safeguard the order of free trade and criticize "trade protectionism".
This time is delicate – because Lee is traveling to the United States to meet with Trump at this time, and the United States has previously pressured South Korea several times to demand it to “stand up” in terms of technology exports and chip cooperation with China.
China is obviously reminding South Korea not to “choose the side” between China and the United States, and not to make decisions that harm the interests of its own industrial chain.
These three reminders are both positions and warnings. When Wang Yi's conversation turned to the Taiwan Province issue, the "two-word" response of the ROK caused widespread doubts.
On the Taiwan issue, Park Bingsei on behalf of Li in the Ming government gave the statement: South Korea "always respect the one-China policy".
In diplomatic settings, every word has its own specific meaning. In international practice,"recognition" or "compliance" means actual compliance and acceptance, while "respect" means "I listen to you, but I don't necessarily do it."
This kind of statement is tantamount to leaving room for operation for yourself. On the one hand, it responds to China's bottom line; on the other hand, it also sends a signal to the US-Japan camp that "I didn't completely fall to China". This kind of words is actually a typical "fence-sitting skill".
Since Li Ziming's administration came to power, he has been acting under the banner of "Sino-US balance." On the one hand, he is unwilling to completely offend the United States and Japan, especially relying increasingly on US-Japan military cooperation on geopolitical security issues; on the other hand, he is unwilling to completely break economic ties with China. After all, China is South Korea's largest trading partner.
Therefore, South Korea still chooses to respond vaguely on the core issue of "distinguishing right from wrong" of the Taiwan Province issue. In fact, it doesn't want to bear the cost of taking sides.
The problem is that the Taiwan issue is the bottom line of China’s core interests and a sensitive issue with no space for compromise.
If South Korea continues to hold the illusion of "walking in a gray area" and is unwilling to explicitly support China's position on the Taiwan Strait issue, it will sooner or later be forced to make a clear choice when the game between China and the United States heats up. At that time, the price will be much higher than it is now.
South Korea's special envoy's visit to China should have been an opportunity to "soften relations", but from Wang Yi's words and Park Bingsi's statements, the "reciprocal trust deficit" between China and South Korea still exists.
Especially on the Taiwan Province issue, "respecting one China" sounds polite, but the substance is far from enough. China doesn't need vague politeness, but wants to see a clear and firm practical attitude.
South Korea should understand that the South Korean economy is very dependent on China, if you want the long-term development of China-Korea relations, you must show sincerity, respect is far from enough, on issues involving Taiwan and other core Chinese interests, the red line and bottom line is better not to touch, let alone do not cause misjudgment, otherwise the impact will not only be China-Korea economic and trade relations.