Rude host

Editorial, Korea Times

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Beijing's negligence toward Moon's visit angers Koreans

The early part of President Moon Jae-in's state visit to China this week was marred by Beijing's mistreatment of the Korean leader, who is making his first visit to the country since taking office in May.

Upon arrival in Beijing, President Moon was greeted by Kong Xuanyou, Chinese assistant minister of foreign affairs and special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs.

During a state visit last year by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, China sent Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the airport to greet him. Considering such a precedence, Beijing should have sent a higher official than one of its foreign ministry's assistant ministers to greet the Korean head of state.

Aside from the inappropriate airport greeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping was out of town on the day of Moon's arrival. Xi was in China's eastern city of Nanjing to preside over a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the 1937 Nanking Massacre by Japanese troops. Korean Ambassador to China Noh Young-min attended the event at the order of the President rather than greet him at the airport. The President reportedly told him it is more important for an ambassador to take part in a meaningful event in the host country. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and other key figures in Chinese government were also absent from Beijing as they were also taking part in the Nanjing ceremony.

Cheong Wa Dae dismissed the media reports of Moon getting mistreated by China, but one cannot help getting the impression so far that China is not very enthusiastic about Moon's visit.

Its negligence toward Moon's visit defies protocol, but the Korean government was also at fault. The foreign ministry should have chosen a date that does not coincide with a state event in China. It was premature to push for a visit amid the lingering bilateral conflict over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here. The two leaders have met twice already this year for summits which produced little progress on mending strained ties.

Since Xi and other leading government figures were absent from the capital, the Korea-China summit had to be scheduled for the second day of Moon's visit, Thursday. Moon spent the first day meeting businesspeople and the Korean community, including actress Choo Ja-hyun and her Chinese husband Yu Xiaoguang. Moon also took first lady Kim Jung-sook for a Chinese-style breakfast at a local restaurant Thursday and mingled with Chinese people. The President's public diplomacy efforts are important in bringing the two countries closer together. But since the two countries have already decided not to issue a joint statement after the summit, it will be hard for it to be seen as having had any impact on mending bilateral ties.