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China wants warmer cultural ties with South Korea, but politics seen to stand in the way
- Lin Songtian, head of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, speaks of ‘shared interest and destiny’
- Chinese studies professor in Seoul voices scepticism, as ‘people-to-people diplomacy is dictated by politics’ under President Xi Jinping
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China’s efforts to improve relations with South Korea on the people’s level may struggle to overcome the impact of political tensions, an observer in Seoul has warned.
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The head of China’s ruling Communist Party body tasked with people-to-people diplomacy recently concluded a visit to South Korea, held up as an effort to “recall the start of the [bilateral] friendship” and “revitalise cooperation mechanisms”.
“China and South Korea are inseparable neighbours, friends, and partners, and have become an increasingly close community of shared interest and destiny,” Lin Songtian, president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said as he met officials, academics, and representatives of non-governmental organisations during his three-day trip.
But whether Chinese willingness to revive civic cooperation succeeds in boosting economic and cultural ties remains in doubt, amid tensions over South Korea’s links with treaty ally the United States, whose Indo-Pacific strategy is seen by Beijing to be aimed at containing China.
Choo Jae-woo, professor of Chinese studies at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, described Lin’s trip as an attempt to “break the ice”.
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