By Jin Kai
Despite close ties, Beijing and Seoul’s divergent interests, as well as regional politics, preclude a formal alliance.
There has been much debate recently on the possibility of a China-South Korea alliance. The “pro” arguments quite often begin by noting that China has been emerging rapidly in a multi-polar world, making a strategic competition or even stand-off between China and the United States more probable. Hence, China may need to reconsider its long-existing principle of “nonalignment” and think about allying with certain countries to mitigate pressures from the United States and its own traditional allies. As a potential ally, South Korea naturally draws people’s attention, since both China and South Korea share a number of common interests: combating a perceived threat from Japan, dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat, and maintaining regional peace in East Asia.
The China-Republic of Korea (ROK) relationship is enjoying its best period in history. The state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in July 2014 further solidified the diplomatic foundation between these two neighbors at the strategic level. Meanwhile, statistics in economic cooperation and people-to-people interactions reveal the increasingly close ties between Beijing and Seoul. China-ROK trade is worth $229 billion, larger than the combined value of U.S.-ROK and Japan-ROK trade. In terms of people-to-people interactions, the number of flights between the two countries provides a good example. There are more than 830 flights between China and South Korea every week, and in a single day there are 30 flights between Qingdao in China and South Korean airports.
Despite growing interactions, the question remains: Is there really enough trust and agreement between China and South Korea to feasibly start building an alliance? This is not to question the necessity of genuine friendship and mutual trust between these two countries; rather, I want to place China and South Korea’s perceptions of each other (and of their positions in the region) in a broader framework.
Read the full story at The Diplomat