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Chinese President Xi Jinping. (EPA/Yonhap)

Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae-myung and stressed his intention to strengthen ties between the two countries, commenting that he “attaches great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations.”
 
China’s state-run Xinhua News reported Wednesday that Xi noted, “China and South Korea are each other’s important close neighbors and partners for cooperation. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 33 years ago, the two sides have transcended differences in ideology and social systems, moved hand in hand and achieved mutual success.”
 
While extending his congratulations to Lee, Xi declared that the two countries ought to “jointly promote the continuous development of the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership and bring more benefits to the two people.”
 
The report emphasized how the Chinese leader stressed how he “attaches great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations.” Compared to the comments made when Xi congratulated former President Yoon Suk-yeol for winning the 2022 presidential election, Xi seems to be sending stronger signals for the development of bilateral relations. The national security and diplomacy policy of the previous administration, which favored the needs of the US and Japan, saw the relationship between South Korea and China deteriorate.
 
China, which is seeking to foster friendly ties with its neighbors amid an intensifying hegemonic rivalry with the US, urged for greater Seoul-Beijing cooperation. 

“In the world today, changes rarely seen in a century are unfolding at an accelerating pace and destabilizing factors in international and regional situations are increasing,” Xi noted. “China stands ready to work with South Korea to stay committed to the spirit that guided the establishment of their diplomatic ties, uphold good-neighborliness and friendship, and stick to the goal of mutual benefit and win-win results.”
 
On the other hand, Lin Jian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, reacted vehemently to a White House official’s mention of “China’s interference and influence in democracies around the world” during a regular briefing.
 
“China always follows the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, and has never and will never interfere in the internal affairs of any country. We urge the US to change the habit of assuming that China would act in the way that the US does, and stop trying to sow discord between China and the ROK,” Lin Jian responded.

By Lee Jeong-yeon, staff reporter

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