Virus and Korea-China ties
Many expected that the coronavirus epidemic, which started in China, would offer room for cooperation between the neighboring country and South Korea. On the contrary, the relationship has been disintegrating. The question is why.
During the early stages of the epidemic, the Korean Medical Association called on the government seven times to impose a comprehensive ban on travelers from China entering the country to prevent the possible onset of community spread of the virus in Korea, warning how the country was very vulnerable.
The government chose not to follow the medical expert community’s advice. President Moon Jae-in said, “China’s difficulties are our own difficulties.” Some were shocked to hear such an expression from the leader of a democracy.
Furthermore, the “very Asian” expression, pregnant with sympathy, could be easily misunderstood when translated into English. A modern leader, mindful of sovereign dignity and independence, cannot easily afford to use such a deferential expression.
The Moon government apparently didn’t mind. It immediately engaged in “mask diplomacy” with China.
Medical experts roundly believe the government should have taken early precautionary measures by implementing the advice from the Korean Medical Association. But it did not restrict masks from being sent to China, when South Koreans were having difficulty in acquiring them. Masks are still very difficult to purchase today.
As the number of infections skyrocketed in South Korea, other nations began to restrict South Korean nationals. Israel turned away the entry of South Korean travelers without prior notice. Seoul lodged a complaint against the Israeli measure. Mauritius rounded up 34 South Korean newly-weds who arrived there for their honeymoons and held them in isolation. Seoul protested the harsh measure.
Then, the Chinese city of Weihai began to restrict South Korean travelers and put them in quarantine. The Chinese city was the one that reached out for help to Korea’s city of Incheon, asking for masks. The Korean side immediately sent 20,000 masks. The South Korean government didn’t lodge a complaint about the ungrateful behavior by the Chinese.
Soon, more and more Chinese cities began to restrict South Koreans. In one of the worst cases of the Chinese quarantine, the door of a South Korean resident’s apartment was nailed shut with wooden boards by Chinese people.
South Koreans felt betrayed by the Chinese measures when South Korea was among the first countries in the world who sent masks and medical supplies there. A South Korean journalist who previously served as a correspondent in Beijing, said: “Through the THAAD retaliation, I came to see the naked face of China. Through the coronavirus epidemic, I confirmed my conviction. There are many people around me who feel the same way.”
South Korean citizens were also enraged with the Moon administration’s attitude with China. Many South Koreans felt that his government has been far too accommodating of, if not self-depreciating to, Beijing.
As the virus pandemic becomes more severe, Moon’s pro-China tendency has been assailed by his conservative critics. Already, there are over 1.4 million South Korean citizens who have petitioned for President Moon’s impeachment on the Cheong Wa Dae website. They criticized him Moon for working harder to please China rather than working hard to protect his own citizens first.
From a larger perspective, the Moon Jae-in administration has been unsuccessfully pursuing a “balancing strategy” between the U.S. and China, amid the two superpowers’ deepening rivalry and competition for global leadership.
As China’s economic importance and political influence increases with South Korea, Seoul wants to moderate its dependence on Washington by inching closer toward the Chinese side. Moon also seems to believe that China will play an indispensable role in resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, particularly at a time when U.S.-North Korea negotiations are in a stalemate. Meanwhile, Washington has been increasingly raising eyebrows at Moon’s “pro-China” tendency.
Unfortunately, China is not reciprocating very much. Beijing has been taking its time to have President Xi Jinping visit South Korea. Since Moon’s inauguration, Xi has yet to visit Seoul.
Moon’s balancing strategy between the U.S. and China, the sitting power and the rising power, has been precarious and bumpy. So far, South Korea has not been successful in taking advantage of the U.S.-China rivalry. In theory, Seoul should have been wooed by both Washington and Beijing. That is not happening, at least visibly.