On the one hand, it is actively preparing for the trilateral summit of China, Japan, and South Korea, and on the other hand, it is constantly cooperating with the United States to introduce sanctions and containment measures against Chinese enterprises.
According to Yonhap News Agency and other foreign media reports, on May 4, local time, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China, Japan and South Korea are conducting final coordination on the trilateral meeting held in Seoul, South Korea from the 26th to the 27th of this month, and the results of this coordination are expected to be announced in the near future.
South Korean media said that once the trilateral summit between China, Japan, and South Korea is successfully held, it will be the second high-level summit of the three countries in four years and five months. This is obviously of unusual significance to the economic and even diplomatic situation in China and even in Northeast Asia.
China-Japan-South Korea relations
Objectively speaking, the trilateral summit of China, Japan and South Korea, which had been established long before the epidemic, has become a high-level summit similar to normalization, and its original intention is to promote economic cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea, as well as the establishment of the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Area.
But later, the epidemic interrupted the rhythm of the trilateral summit, and at the same time, after the U.S. election, the Biden administration took office, adopted a completely different strategy from its predecessor, increasing the manipulation and influence of Japan and South Korea, making the right-wing parties in Japan and South Korea govern, and the relationship with China also became discordant.
Among them, it is particularly worth mentioning that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has adopted some wrong policies towards China after taking office, including but not limited to following the United States, encircling China's semiconductor industry chain, and even pointing fingers at China's internal affairs in the Taiwan Strait.
The relations between China and the United States, and even China, Japan, and South Korea, which are affected by Sino-US relations, have also become delicate, so it is interesting to see whether the next trilateral summit can make some constructive progress.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol
Now South Korea is so actively promoting the convening of the trilateral summit of China, Japan and South Korea, on the one hand, in accordance with the previous habit of hosting in turn, after China held the trilateral summit in Chengdu in 2019, it is South Korea's turn.
From a diplomatic point of view, since the leaders of Japan and South Korea participated in the trilateral summit held by China at that time, even if the current tension between China and South Korea is tense, South Korea is so active in promoting this matter, we have to respond for the sake of diplomatic courtesy.
The purpose of the South Korean government is self-evident, after Yoon Suk-yeol came to power, due to the adoption of some wrong policies, not to mention the impact on bilateral diplomacy, economic and trade relations between China and South Korea, and more importantly, the drag on the South Korean economy, so its popular support rating has also been declining.
In the just-concluded South Korean parliamentary election, he completely lost to the opposition party, and if he had not been able to retain one-third of the seats in the National Assembly, Yoon Suk-yeol might have become a "lame duck" president.
National Assembly of the Republic of Korea
Against this background, regardless of their political leanings, whether they have completely become puppets and pawns of the United States, they must take into account their approval ratings, and holding a trilateral summit between China, Japan, and South Korea is a good opportunity.
From an economic point of view, the China-Japan-ROK summit will obviously help the South Korean economy, which is currently in a difficult situation, and from a diplomatic and political point of view, even if the three parties cannot reach a compromise at the actual economic level, they can at least use it to publicize the "diplomatic achievements" of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and win back a wave of people's hearts.
South Korea's propaganda is very good, but some of the things that the Yoon Suk-yeol government has done recently really don't seem to mean to ease relations with China and seek cooperation.
According to Russian media reports, South Korean diplomats said in an interview with the media a few days ago that the South Korean and American governments discussed cooperation in dealing with the problem of "overcapacity" in China's photovoltaic industry at the 10th South Korea-US Energy Security Dialogue held in Houston on the 30th of last month.
China's photovoltaic industry
Two measures against China were also discussed, including import controls to deal with China's so-called "excessive subsidies" and cooperation in the development of more technologically advanced products.
Objectively speaking, in recent months, the US and Western media have been constantly hyping up the issue of China's export of "excess capacity", but in essence, this is a pure slander and smear.
The reason is very simple, because the so-called "overcapacity" mentioned by the United States is not China's traditional manufacturing industry, but the "new three" products such as new energy electric vehicles and photovoltaic cells that China has focused on developing in recent years.
And these products in the world does not exist at all "overcapacity" problem, to put it bluntly, compared with the traditional automobile and even other industrial products, these industries are emerging industries, although China produces a little more, accounting for a larger share of the world's total exports, but this does not mean that China is exporting "excess capacity".
New energy vehicle charging pile
On the contrary, the premise of the so-called "excess capacity" is that the production of things cannot be used up, since China's export goods are in short supply, and people in so many countries around the world need them, how can it be said that it is "overcapacity"?
In the final analysis, it is just that the United States and Western countries have been left behind by China in the field of relevant cutting-edge technologies, or they can't make this money, so they are red-eyed and deliberately found a word to smear and slander China.
Specifically, on the issue of the so-called energy security cooperation between South Korea and the United States, South Korea is a small country whose pillar industries do not include products such as solar photovoltaic cells.
Because South Korea's own national strength and even the previous technological layout, has not developed in this direction, even if China exports more solar photovoltaic panels, it will not affect South Korea itself, it is the United States wants to compete with China for the position of the leader of the global new energy revolution, so at all costs, unscrupulous means to suppress China's solar cell industry.
U.S.-South Korea relations
However, the ROK has taken the initiative to cooperate with the United States in encircling and suppressing China in such a matter that has nothing to do with itself, which is naturally not conducive to the development of Sino-ROK relations.
Against this background, it is not enough for the ROK to actively seek to improve relations with China at the diplomatic level, and more importantly, it is necessary to completely shake off the shackles of the United States, truly proceed from its own interests, and deal with China in a rational and pragmatic manner, so as to explore a stable and harmonious path for the benign development of Sino-ROK relations.