Newsletter

Kang Joon-young, Professor of Graduate School of International and Area Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, HK+ Director of National Strategic Project Team

In July, China will celebrate two hundred years of emphasis by the Xi Jinping leadership internally. This is to establish a bridgehead to achieve China's dream of becoming the world's strongest nation through the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party and the People's Republic of China. They present a blueprint for the completion of well-off society and sustainable development. China is in the process of transitioning to form a new leadership through the 20th National Congress of the Community Party of China next October. It is also an important time for them to respond to the continued pressure of the newly launched US Biden administration on China and to establish policy measures. So I met Professor Kang Jun-young and talked about what implications China's policy management plan gives us.

interviewer | Choi, Woon-Do, Director of Office of Education and Public Relations at NAHF

Q1. Many predict that the US Biden administration's policy toward China will take over Trump's hard-line policy. Tell me about the political inclinations and policy judgments of the Biden administration.

A1. The Biden administration is trying to continue its hard-line stance on China, saying that it will not condone China to lead the world. This position is evident in Secretary of State Tony Blinken's comments: "Trump's tough approach on China had a problem with that way. But the basic principle was the right one." But the difference between Biden and Trump is that it builds a composition of 'many countries versus China' that deals with China 'with the alliance' and emphasizes the rule of law and internationalism. And they will try to control and put pressure on China systematically with issues of democracy, human rights, labor, value and environment.

China is the only country in the Covid-19 Pandemic that has achieved positive growth, and expects their 8% economic growth this year. If the United States continues to tolerate this, the recovery of the United States' international status, and the United States-led world will be damaged. In this respect, the United States may use the following perceptions as a driving force to seal internal divisions. That is bipartisan agreements across the United States that empathize with Trump's pressure policy on China, and the perception that China strongly threatens American life and international status.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration emphasizes cooperation in climate change issues. And do not call the Covid-19 virus with the name of 'China' or 'Wuhan'. They also reversed decision to delist China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom Hong Kong in the U.S. stock market under Trump's executive order. This is a willingness to implement predictable policies on Chinese issues and seems to be a gesture to deal with them normatively. The US industry's attempt to break down China-centered global supply chains at once will be a significant burden on the Biden administration. So I think that there will be some space for coexistence.

Q2. In the end, the U.S. policy toward China will be related to the international strategy on FOIP, which will affect the solidity of the U.S.-Japan alliance and the intimacy of U.S.-Japan relations.

FOIP(Free and Open Indo-Pacific) is a US-Japan foreign policy proposed by former Japanese Prime Minister Abe and adopted by former US President Trump. This is to check China and aim to peace, stability and prosperity in Indo-Pacific. Basically, there is a consensus in the United States that China should be eliminated from the challenger's ranks. The key is the technology hegemony war that actively curbs the spread of high technology in China, and the institutionalization of FOIP to prevent the rise of China militarily. The United States has already held a Quad high-level official meeting involving India, Japan and Australia, and military pressure continues to pass destroyers through the Taiwan Strait. Moreover, the U.S.-China conflict will intensify as the U.S. continues to watch China's astronomical investment in infrastructure on construction and their high technology.

In the future, Biden will make a clear voice in ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, implementing Taiwan Relations Act, and suppressing human rights in China. In this situation, the US has declared 'extreme competition' with China, and restoration and strengthening of cooperation between Korea and the United States and Japan is very important. From the perspective of the U.S.-Japan alliance, Japan which is extremely wary of China's expansion of influence, actively cooperated with the United States during Trump's presidency. So Japan will have a higher degree of closeness with the Biden government, which emphasizes the importance of alliances. The solidarity of the ROK-US alliance is relatively less than that between the US and Japan. In this regard, the United States is concerned about the relationship between Korea and Japan, which is not able to cooperate because of the mixture of history and reality. Now we need to make a decision to work together to separate historical and real issues. If the Korea-Japan issue interferes with the restoration of Korea-US-Japan cooperation, the United States is likely to intervene in some form. So, Korea should be careful about communication with the United States so that they do not approach us wrongly.

Q3. The United States expects South Korea to participate in FOIP. How should we resolve the dilemma between Korea and the United States' security and cooperation, and the historical conflict between Korea and Japan?

A3. The Korean government seems to be hesitant to meet the U.S. demands. Because in the face of the North Korean nuclear issue, South Korea should consider the role of China, the biggest helper of North Korea. And South Korea should avoid conflict considering its economic relations with China, the largest trading partner. The problem is that “The United States thinks that Korea has leaned toward China”. The Biden government is trying to restore the alliance, hinting at a solution to the issue of defense budget sharing between the U.S. and South Korea. But they suspect that Korea was leaning toward China, and they are lukewarm about the early transition of Wartime Operational Control.

The United States is dissatisfied with the dual attitude of South Korea. In fact, Korea relies on the strong ROK-US alliance. South Korea, however, does not support the U.S. position on the North Korean nuclear, which is the biggest issue of security on the Korean peninsula. Japan continues to assert or explain its position to the United States. On the other hand, Korea is relatively poor at such a thing. If Korea does not want to be misunderstood, it should clearly explain to the United States the position of ‘the historical fact’ of the Korea-Japan issue. And it is necessary to show efforts to restore and strengthen cooperation between Korea, US and Japan. The premise of this is that the Korean-Japanese government and leaders approach the historical and real problems separately.

Q4. Recently, Japan provokes our historical awareness with a paper related to 'Sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army'. And China embarrasss us by showing an offensive stance in the nationalities of kimchi, hanbok, and Yoon Dong-ju. I'd like to ask you to diagnose the situation.

A4. Recently, Japanese and Chinese historical distortions and cultural usurpation have been repeated. Professor John Mark Ramseyer's distorted historical perception and academic analysis are what he calls a ridiculous behavior. He exploited the “freedom of study” to spread the distorted facts and to publish the wrong contents in the world’s best journal. This means that the objective facts about historical issues are not guaranteed.

Meanwhile, China has drawn Korean traditional dish Kimchi into the debate about 'original'. They claim that the culture of Ethnic Koreans living in China(Arirang, Ssireum, Doljabi, etc.) is a Chinese culture. And Ethnic Koreans living in China is a member of the Chinese people. They also say that the national poet Yoon Dong-ju is a Chinese people, and Hanbok is Chinese clothes. They think that what an entertainer said was 'Mao' is an ignorance of 'Mao Zedong'. It also regards BTS's extremely common acceptance speech, or Black Pink's bare hand holding a panda, as an ignorance of China. In addition, they did not have enough to claim that Goguryeo history is Chinese history. It is also said that Korea took away China's holidays as 'Gangneung Danoje'. That's not all. They say ‘the Korean War’ is ‘the War to Resist the U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea’ that kept peace against the U.S. It's about forcing others to have their own history.

After the THAAD crisis, China has expanded its aversion to Korea and has been jealous of the Korean Wave. This is a combination of patriotic sentiments of Chinese netizens and Chinese authorities who want to show off international success. It is also an attempt to fill the lack of soft power, cultural emptiness, with historical and cultural usurpation or power. This is a new form of Neo-Sinocentrism that projects the increased regional influence on history and culture due to the rise of China, and in which most of the neighboring countries have been their 'territory' in the past.

The problem is that the Chinese government recognizes this phenomenon as a cultural debate of netizens, but it is actually assisting. China's attempts to invade culture have already formed a certain pattern. This is the Global Times(環球時報) leading the public opinion, and patriotic young netizens such as Xiaofenhong(小紛紅) develop public opinion and psychologically pressure their opponents. Every time, China weaponizes '1.4 billion markets' and uses them as Trump card. It's a Neo-Sinocentrism behavior that tells us to give in to the Chinese will.

In fact, China is a tough one to deal with. But the government should preach clear principles even if it is a low-key response. We should not accept chinese claim of unilateral distortion of history, cultural usurpation. The knowledge community should develop a logic of response to China's distorted historical awareness and self-centered double standards, and give them a step. At least, we need to make efforts and wisdom to form a minimum of unwritten rule that we should not force our respective perspectives to the other party. Government and civilian capabilities must be combined to demonstrate true diplomatic power. Based on accurate historical and cultural facts, we should analyze why this situation occurs and what background it has to respond to them clearly.

Q5. Considering the U.S.-China relations and the Korea-China relations during the transition period, what strategies should the Korean government respond to maintain the East Asian order?

A5. This is the intersection of the view of the Korean government to grasp international relations between the two Koreas, China's strategy to overcome the United States, and the US Biden government which has announced strong pressure on China, foreshadowing extreme competition. Over the past four years, inter-Korean relations have not had an absolute impact on peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, and the ROK-US alliance has come to its limit. With the North Korea-U.S. nuclear talks breaking down and poor communication between the two Koreas, China will present President Xi Jinping's visit to South Korea. And they are targeting Korea, a weak link among the triangular security schemes of Korea, the United States and Japan. This is part of a double tactic to stop Korea from leaning toward the United States before the strengthening of cooperation between the United States and Korea. Of course, they want to keep their influence on the Korean peninsula.

In this situation, if we expand relations with China, Korea's strategic position is likely to be reduced. What is important now is to clarify our national interests and principles based on national consensus. We can say to China only if we can speak hard truths to North Korea as a free democracy. That way, we can express our will to the United States. Now the United States and China are not the object of choice but the object of persuasion. It's a dead end to establishing clear principles and visions, and it's an important time.

Q6. You have been active as a Chinese diplomatic expert, and have you started a new business recently?

A6. I was the head of the HK+ National Strategy Group. So we are carrying out a seven-year task called ‘Transnational cooperation and communication : Confirming the contact point with the northern culture and building cultural hub to provide an environment suitable for unification’. We recognize the unification issue of the Korean peninsula as a global issue including Northeast Asia. And we believe that the integration and communication of all members should build up an environment suitable for unification. We have a goal. It is to find the contact point of 'North' in the academic, historical and cultural meaning that has been alienated in the meantime, and 'North' in the realistic meaning of the foundation of unification of the Korean peninsula. So, the goal is to lay the foundations for building up the environment suitable for the unification of the Korean peninsula. We are making several new attempts to transcend the existing framework.

Q7. Please say a good word for the development of NAHF.

A7. The previous studies conducted by NAHF are mainly provided in the form of data collections or books. This is desirable in terms of securing academic value. But there are limits to spreading the results of research or delivering key content to the public. So please think about how NAHF provides information. Especially, when issues such as China's patriotism and Japan's history distortion occur, it should not end with discussions of researchers or scholars. Provide accurate analysis data to the media and civil society so that blind criticism is avoided and logically responded. So please NAHF take the lead in building a new platform to secure national consensus.