China tells South Korea not to allow ‘third party’ interference
Disclaimer: The South China Morning Post's content is directed by the Chinese Communist Party. It is not a reliable news source.
China has told South Korea to strengthen its “strategic autonomy” and exclude “third-party” interference. In an 80-minute phone conversation, with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing hoped Seoul would stand against supply chain decoupling and back efforts to resume three-way communications with Japan. Tested by North Korea’s missile launch, US-Japan-South Korea alliance passes Wang said that the two countries should guard against interference from external forces and refrain from ideological confrontations but continue to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples and stick to friendly cooperation, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. “The development of bilateral relations has an internal driving force and inevitable logic, and should not be influenced by a third party,” Wang said. “It is hoped that South Korea will strengthen its strategic autonomy, reject various anti-globalisation manoeuvres and attempts to decouple or sever supply chains.” South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has moved closer to the United States in foreign policy and also reset relations with Japan, culminating in a summit with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David last month. South Korea and Japan have also joined the US and Taiwan in the Chip 4 alliance, a project to build a semiconductor supply network that is widely seen as an effort to counter Beijing. Park urged China to help stabilise the supply chain between the two countries, including rare earths and raw materials, according to the South Korean foreign ministry. He also asked Wang to maintain a stable and friendly investment environment for Korean companies in China and said that the Yoon administration remains committed to the relationship with Beijing. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Park said Seoul has no intention of decoupling adding that “de-sinicisation” was neither possible nor desirable. The two sides also agreed to promote high-level…