Gap between China, South Korea is widening as Seoul pivots to Washington
- It couldn’t come at a worse time for Beijing, as it prepares for a major leadership reshuffle amid an economic slowdown and global pushback
- Recent surveys have revealed the trust deficit between the two nations and suggest there could be difficult times ahead for the bilateral relationship
That was in line with the results of other recent surveys, including one by Korean magazine SisaIN and Hankook Research last year that found South Koreans viewed China more negatively than Japan for the first time in decades. The 1,000 South Koreans surveyed also overwhelmingly favoured Washington over Beijing.
Academics have also been polled on their views of the relationship. Those in South Korea tended to have a more pessimistic outlook than those in China, according to a survey early this year by Sungkyunkwan University’s Sungkyun Institute of China Studies in Seoul.
Some 200 academics were asked to rate bilateral ties on a scale of 0 to 10 – the South Koreans put them at 4.66, while the Chinese score was 6.24, the Hankyoreh newspaper reported. Asked about the outlook for the next five years, the Chinese observers gave a more optimistic score of 7.02 compared to the South Koreans’ 4.92.
There was also a divergence of views on what has caused the decline in relations. The Chinese academics, largely toeing the official line, blamed “external factors, including international politics”, while the South Koreans pointed to “differences in historical and cultural perceptions” and “nationalistic conflict”.
Chinese envoy prods South Korea to rethink pro-US pivot
South Korean experts told me that Beijing’s aggressive diplomacy and its handling of Hong Kong have dealt perhaps the biggest blow to the country’s image in South Korea, especially among younger people who are most negative about China in the polls.