Amid a brewing diplomatic feud between China and South Korea, Beijing conveyed its discontent to Seoul on Sunday over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “erroneous” remarks regarding Taiwan.
China’s vocal disapproval displays the escalating tensions between the 2 nations, emphasizing the fragility of their diplomatic relations.
Beijing and Seoul have traded barbs over a Reuters interview with Yoon this month, wherein he referred to as tensions between China and Taiwan a “global issue” just like North Korea, and blamed current heightened tensions on “attempts to change the status quo by force.”
China claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to deliver the island beneath its management sooner or later, with Beijing insisting that its dealings with Taipei are purely inner issues.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong had been ordered on Thursday to make a “solemn representation” to the South Korean ambassador over Yoon’s feedback.
Sun instructed the ambassador Yoon’s remarks had been “totally unacceptable” and expressed “strong dissatisfaction,” the ministry stated.
China’s assertion comes forward of Yoon’s state go to to key ally the United States, which Beijing has blamed for arming Taiwan and inspiring pro-independence politicians.
The Taiwan query is a matter “belonging to the Chinese themselves and no force can be allowed to interfere,” Sun stated, urging Seoul to “adhere to the One-China Principle and be careful in words and actions relating to the Taiwan issue.”
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had beforehand criticized Yoon’s remarks, calling it a “universally known fact” that the Taiwan subject was not akin to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
This prompted South Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday to berate China for its “serious diplomatic discourtesy.”
Tensions have escalated within the Taiwan Strait lately, with China launching army workout routines earlier this month after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen visited the U.S.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
