Lift retaliation

Beijing should put action before words

Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi’s visit to Seoul last week drew much attention as he came here as a special representative of President Xi Jinping. He met South Korean President Moon Jae-in and other ranking officials to brief them about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s surprise visit to Beijing and his summit with Xi.

It was timely and appropriate for China to send Yang to the South to explain what Xi and Kim talked about during their meeting, especially the North’s denuclearization. It was all the more so when an inter-Korean summit is scheduled for April 27 and another summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump is due in late May.

Now, Seoul and Beijing must work together more closely to achieve the shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea. Both sides have cooperated in enforcing U.S.-led international sanctions against the North for its nuclear and missile programs. However, China must have felt sidelined on the North Korean nuclear issue, not least since Kim agreed to hold the summit with Moon and Trump amid the rapidly thawing ties between the two Koreas following the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

By hosting the Xi-Kim summit, Beijing can improve ties with Pyongyang that have been strained by the former’s participation in sanctions against the latter. It can also regain its influence over the North — China’s traditional ally. Besides, China will have a bigger role in the denuclearization and peace-making process on the peninsula.

Against this backdrop, Yang told Moon that Beijing will lift its economic retaliation against Seoul over the latter’s deployment of a U.S. anti-missile battery here. He even assured Moon and other Korean officials that they can count on him as far as the retaliation is concerned. He also gave the impression that China is trying to curry favor with the South to join in the denuclearization talks.

Yang’s commitment to the removal of the retaliation is no doubt a welcome move. But we are still doubtful about his intentions because he might just be paying lip service to ease some worries that the Xi-Kim summit could complicate denuclearization talks with the North. Beijing has also invited criticism from Seoul for not lifting the retaliation despite Moon’s push for it during his meeting with Xi last December.

China should have removed the retaliatory measures against South Korea. It needs to recognize the anti-missile system, known as the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), is to defend the South against the North’s nuclear and missile threats. Needless to say, this system does not compromise China’s national interests.

According to some reports, the South Korean economy was estimated to suffer as high as 20 trillion won ($18.9 billion) in damages from China’s retaliation last year alone. We hope Beijing will lift the measures as soon as possible to forge a better strategic partnership with Seoul. China should also promise that it will not take such a unilateral, self-serving step again down the road.