The Chinese special plane landed in Pyongyang with a high profile, and behind the red carpet horse team, a shocking chess game in Northeast Asia was quietly opening.
However, just as China and North Korea were getting closer, a question from foreign media instantly exposed South Korea's concerns and the United States 'calculations.
This is by no means a simple reciprocity, but a strategic showdown between China and the United States and South Korea before the APEC summit!
One side is hot and the other is cold
On the 9th, a China special plane landed steadily in Pyongyang. The visit of a high-level delegation kicked off a big drama.
The reception specifications given by North Korea are quite top-notch.
Prime Minister Park Tae-sung personally greeted him at the airport. The red carpet, honor guard, and even the horse team escorted him. The grand scene and the exquisite details all sent a strong signal to the outside world.
The invitation was issued to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Labour Party.
China has openly stated that it values and hopes to strengthen this “traditional friendship.”
But in the ever-changing Northeast Asia, any high-level interaction will not be just a simple exchange of courtesy.
Just two days before the Chinese special plane arrived in Pyongyang, on October 7th, an emergency call was made to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The other side of the phone was South Korean Foreign Minister Zhao显.
This phone call lasted for a long time, from forty minutes to nearly an hour, which was enough to show the anxiety of the Korean side.
Zhao expressed “preoccupation” over the rapid warming of China-Korea relations and hoped that China could “play a constructive role” in the issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
More importantly, he has a clear appeal: South Korea will host the APEC summit this year, and they are very much looking forward to taking this opportunity to promote high-level exchanges with China.
However, the response on the other end of the phone was full of "conditions."
Wang Yi emphasized that the foundation for the development of relations between the two countries is "mutual support" and implicitly hopes that South Korea can "eliminate external interference" when handling international affairs.
It is impossible for Seoul not to hear the weight of these words.
On the one hand, the enthusiasm for North Korea is like fire, and the unbreakable friendship is demonstrated in a high profile. On the other hand, it is the calm restraint of South Korea, with every word and hidden premise.
This distinct "temperature difference" is the brilliance of China's diplomatic tactics. It accurately conveys completely different messages to different objects at the same time, and makes the atmosphere of the whole chess game subtle.
The price of a ticket
Soon, this delicate atmosphere turned into an open confrontation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on the 9th.
There are foreign media reporters directly asking: Will China's top level attend the APEC summit held in South Korea this year? Even further, is it possible for the heads of state of China and the United States to meet during the summit?
Everyone’s eyes were focused on spokesman Guo Qianquan, whose answers didn’t drop but were full of imagination.
Regarding APEC, he said that China has always attached great importance to it and hopes that the meeting will achieve positive results.
But about the Sino-US meeting, he left only one word – “currently there is no information to provide.”
The phrase “no information” is more powerful than any positive or negative answer.
It is not a simple avoidance, but a proactive setting of the agenda.
It turns an outward “anticipated” event into a “reward” that needs to be exchanged for practical action.
For South Korea, as the host, ensuring the success and specification of the summit is its core concern.
China’s ambiguous statements have just figured out this “pain point”.You want to make APEC work? yes, but you can’t just say it in your mouth.
The maintenance of the multilateral trade system mentioned in the phone is just reminding South Korea that the sincerity of economic cooperation is a prerequisite for political support.
For Washington, this "no information yet" firmly grasped the initiative back to its own hands.
In other words, China doesn’t want to meet for “photography” or “passage.”
A valuable conversation must have substantive content, and this requires that the US side first express its sincerity and create a good atmosphere in which it can sit down and talk.
Historical memories still exist. The South Korean president refused China's invitation to the September 3rd military parade.
This account may also become a consideration factor affecting the specifications of China's participation this time.
Who has time, who has time?
Where does China dare to use this "suspense strategy" come from? The answer is simple, it is economy.
This strong capacity for economic cooperation, which is China’s heaviest code on the table, also gives it the strategic patience to “stand still.”
Looking at the situation in South Korea, it is clear at a glance.
Security depends on the alliance with the United States, and economically it is deeply tied to the cooperation with China. This embarrassment of being caught in the middle is its structural dilemma.
It is precisely that China has seen this point and used the economic card to soften its tough stance on security issues.
This is not empty talk. At the APEC summit in Peru in 2024, the world has seen China’s economic and diplomatic power.
China has sent a large delegation of 400 business elites along with it to promote large cooperation projects such as Qingdao.
This model of "government + enterprise" is both a huge temptation and a silent code.
It clearly tells the world what cooperation with China can bring.
Under the current "ternary contradiction" of power imbalance, lagging systems, and mutual strategic doubts in Northeast Asia, China's strategy has been interpreted by the outside world as "fighting without breaking."
Don't rush to show your cards, don't pursue quick victory, but be flexible and take the initiative.
This strategic determination supported by economic power makes the phrase seem flat. "No information yet"It is full of thousands.
It forced other parties to stop and seriously think about how to respond to China's "Unspoken words"。
conclusion
So, back and forth, from the high temperature of visiting Pyongyang, to the blurred press conference, this is not a negative response, but a combination of fists, a kind of artistic active shaping.
Through this series of operations, China has successfully shifted the focus of the regional agenda from “everyone is guessing what China will do” to “what the US and South Korea need to do in exchange for China’s cooperation.”
The curtain of this multi-party game around the APEC summit has just begun.
The future trend of the situation will no longer be unilaterally determined by either party, but depend on how all parties interpret and respond to this huge "suspense" carefully set by China.