Free fall in Sino-ROK ties must be checked

Bilateral relations between China and the Republic of Korea are at a historical low since the two countries established diplomatic relations more than three decades ago. This is mainly due to Seoul strengthening its alignment with Washington in recent years as part of the latter's plan to rally its allies in Asia to counter China.

The deterioration in their relations began with the decision of the ROK government to deploy the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system pointed at China. The trilateral summit between US, Japanese and ROK leaders at Camp David last month has also drawn sharp criticism from Beijing, which sees it as another attempt by the US to forge a bulwark to contain China.

The telephone conversation between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his ROK counterpart Park Jin on Thursday was a timely attempt to ease the mounting frictions between the two sides. It is a welcome development, as it indicates that the two sides are unwilling to allow their relationship to continue its free fall to the detriment of their national interests.

During their talks, Wang told his ROK counterpart that China's policy toward the ROK has maintained "continuity and stability", and the ROK should not let its China policy be influenced by a third party. While he stopped short of identifying that third party by name, it is evident which party he was referring to and that "interference from external factors" orchestrated by that party is to blame for the deteriorating bilateral ties. Seoul needs to be alert to that disruptive force making further efforts to erode the existing partnership between the ROK and China.

It is pivotal that the ROK "strengthen its strategic autonomy" and refrain from ideological confrontation. And it should work with China to push for steady and long-term cooperation between the two countries. Encouragingly, Park told Wang that his country has no intention to engage in decoupling from China on the issue of production and supply chains. "De-Sinicization" is not only not possible, it is also not desirable, he said.

Indeed, the mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between China and the ROK, which signed a free trade agreement in 2015, has remained the ballast for bilateral relations. Over the past three decades, trade between the two countries has grown 72-fold to more than $360 billion, with China being the ROK's biggest trade partner for 18 consecutive years.

Despite their differences, China's huge development potential and large market lay a solid foundation for expanding China-ROK cooperation and helping the ROK achieve sustainable prosperity and development. Seoul should choose cooperation rather than confrontation, unity rather than division, as that is the only way forward for China-ROK relations.