"China Uses Dual Strategy: Hardline Toward Government, Moderate Toward Civilians"

Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming criticized our government's diplomacy for 15 minutes at a dinner hosted by Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 8th. This has led to analyses calling it a Chinese-style aggressive diplomatic strategy known as 'Wolf Warrior Diplomacy.' Meanwhile, Professor Moon Il-hyun of China University of Political Science and Law said, "Rather than Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, it is a so-called change in China's response strategy toward Korea."

On the 12th, Professor Moon said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' program, "The government is dealt with firmly, but the private sector is responded to moderately. I see this as a kind of separation of responses between government and private sectors, or a dual strategy."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is visiting Xing Haiming, the Chinese Ambassador to Korea, at the Chinese Ambassador's residence in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the evening of the 8th, touring the residence. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

He stated, "In the past, during the THAAD issue, China indiscriminately retaliated against both the government and private sectors, which greatly intensified anti-China sentiment in Korea. This is something China itself reflects on," adding, "This time, China is taking a flexible attitude toward the private sector and business circles. Through these private channels, China emphasizes how much it needs Korea, and there are expectations that China will take certain flexible measures in areas such as culture, youth exchanges, tourism, and the Korean Wave."

He continued, "I was quite surprised recently when Ambassador Xing appeared on MBC's Focus," saying, "Given the very delicate and currently chaotic state of Korea-China relations, it is extremely unusual for him to appear on a popular domestic current affairs program and explain China's position on such a sensitive diplomatic topic."

Professor Moon said, "Especially his remarks with Representative Lee are in line with this," adding, "Looking at what China is doing, it seems they think that no matter how much they talk to the government, it won't work, so they are directly explaining China's position to the private sector and seeking understanding. I think this is the strategy they are employing."

He said, "There are issues like Naver's search not working smoothly. I want to see this as part of that because Naver is something ordinary citizens can immediately feel, but it doesn't cause actual damage," adding, "The Chinese government is very dissatisfied with Korea's China policy toward the general public, and since we also have complaints about that, they might take such measures to inform our citizens of this possibility."

In response to the question, "Is the ban on Korean entertainment content (Hanhanryeong) still in place?" he said, "Only two things remain from the Hanhanryeong; the rest have been lifted. One is that group tours to Korea by Chinese tourists have not been resumed," adding, "The other is that performances by Korean entertainers have not been fully resumed. Some performances have been allowed, but China itself claims that there is no Hanhanryeong left and that there is nothing more to lift."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.