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Gao Zugui, Deputy Director of the Institute for International Strategic Studies at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China
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Gao Zugui suggested a railroad connecting China with the Korean Peninsula could be an avenue for breakthrough on NK
“I believed President Moon Jae-in is trying to strike a balance among the US, China, and Japan. It’s good positioning.” Gao Zugui, Deputy Director of the Institute for International Strategic Studies at the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China, commented on South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s recent remarks in an interview with the foreign press. Gao was speaking on the morning of Nov. 8 at a talk organized by the Chinese embassy in Seoul, which comes amid a mending of ties between South Korea and China as they resolve their conflict over the THAAD antimissile system. “President Moon recently talked about how the US and South Korea were an ‘alliance,’ while South Korea and China were in a ‘relationship of cooperation,’ but said that Japan and South Korea ‘cannot form an alliance relationship,’” Gao noted. “If the US fails to understand this position [of seeking a balance], it stands to hamper relations between South Korea and China,” he added. Moon is scheduled to have a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC Summit in Vietnam on Nov. 10–11. To improve ties between Seoul and Beijing, Gao called for “finding new drivers” for their relationship in economic terms. “There are also two elements that need to be resolved in security terms,” he stressed, explaining the US was “one element.” “[The US] is interfering with and impeding South Korea-China relations. That relationship could face difficulties if the US ratchets up its leading role in conflict in Northeast Asia,” he explained. As the second element, he cited the North Korean nuclear issue, arguing that South Korea-China relations “would develop well if [the issue] was not there as an ‘explosion point’ in the region.” Gao mentioned a railroad connecting South and North Korea with China as a possible avenue for a breakthrough, explaining that “relations between China and South Korea have improved [in the past] when inter-Korean tensions have loosened and there has been peaceful cooperation.” Gao referred to the THAAD deployment issue as “like a traffic accident.” “South Korea-China relations were speeding along the highway when THAAD suddenly appeared and dealt a huge blow,” he said. While Gao said China was “aware that the THAAD deployment is not completely under South Korea’s control,” he responded to a question on [China’s] “retaliation” for the deployment by noting that “THAAD’s influence is already waning.” “There’s a good atmosphere taking shape in terms of tourism on both sides, economic exchange, and the reopening of Lotte Mart stores,” he said. By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
