What stance should Korean diplomacy take?
KIM HYOUNG-GUThe author is the Washington bureau chief of the JoongAng Ilbo.
After U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned “a dictator,” targeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, China responded quickly and sharply. A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry lashed out that the U.S. president seriously violated China’s political dignity. “It is an open political provocation,” he said.
The remarks came as Biden explained the invasion of U.S. airspace by a Chinese spy balloon in February. Biden said, “The reason Xi Jinping was very angry when I shot down that balloon with two spy teams was that he didn’t know they were there. That’s a great shame for dictators, when they don’t know something has happened.” He meant to say that Xi must not have known about the infiltration of the balloon.
But Biden’s use of the word “dictator,” which shows his perspective of the world as “democracy versus authoritarianism,” caused a stir. Relations between the U.S. and China appeared to take the first step toward improvement after U.S. State Secretary Tony Blinken’s trip to Beijing. But the ties have been put on hold again by Biden’s unintentionally revealed view of China.
While China is upset, the U.S. is calm in contrast. Many seem to think, “Did Biden say anything wrong?” Vedant Patel, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, said in a briefing on June 21 that the U.S. won’t be hesitant to speak frankly about some differences and that he didn’t think the comment needed to be clarified or interpreted further. As there is no issue with the comment by the U.S. president, Washington didn’t feel any need for explanation.
What attracted the media attention in the U.S. is the “timing” rather than the content of the remarks. On the outcomes of Blinken’s visit to China, Biden praised that he did a great job and made progress in the U.S.-China relations. The next day, Biden made the dictator comment. Security experts said that it could damage the efforts of the two countries which have agreed to stabilize their relations and resume high-level talk channels.
Nevertheless, many believe that the remark will not drive U.S.-China relations to collapse. The Chinese foreign ministry had been angry but suddenly removed the question and answer related to the “dictator” comment in the full text of the spokesman’s briefing on the website that evening. This could be a move to “manage the situation to prevent an accidental military clash” the two countries had agreed to earlier.
The question is what stance Korean diplomacy should take in international situations rapidly changing each day. The reality of the two superpowers seeking dialogue and communication for national interests in the face of fierce competition poses a serious dilemma to Korea. The more complicated and chaotic the world becomes, the more sophisticated — and flexible — diplomatic strategy we must draw up. The times demand multi-layered and multi-dimensional diplomacy from Korea.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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