Biden pushes South Korea to take a hard line against China at the summit

When the South Korean president became the second world leader to meet with Joe Biden in Washington on Friday, the United States tried to persuade Moon Jae-in to agree to a strong focus on China.

As part of the cooperation strategy with allies, the White House hopes that the Moon will support robust language in the joint statement issued during the summit. Against ChinaAccording to five people familiar with the matter.

But four people familiar with the talks between the White House and the Blue House in the Presidential Palace in Seoul said that Moon was unwilling to use language that would arouse a strong reaction from Beijing.

It is expected that South Korea will agree to join the “Quads”It is a group composed of the United States, Japan, India and Australia, which aims to contain China’s influence. But Seoul is only seeking outdated references to avoid angering China, and China has condemned the partnership between the United States and other Quad members.

And South Korea has one Security Alliance For a long time, it has resisted the pressure of the United States to openly challenge China.During the Trump administration, it overturned U.S. requests to prevent South Korean companies from joining Cooperation with Huawei, China Telecom champion.

After South Korean companies faced challenges, Seoul remained vigilant and provoked another rebound China boycott In response to the deployment of the Thaad missile defense system in the United States, it was proposed in 2017.

Victor Cha, a South Korean expert at Georgetown University and a former White House official, said: “South Koreans have a nightmare about imposing more Thaad-type sanctions.” “Seoul does not want to make a difficult choice against China, but it does not. Making a decision (hedging) is not a long-term strategy. It weakens the alliance and angers China.”

Biden pays special attention to strengthening the alliance to exert greater influence in China.At the summit meeting with Yoshihide Suyoshi last month, he persuaded the Japanese Prime Minister to issue a Statement of Support for Taiwan Facing China’s aggression.

Although there are fears of economic retaliation from China in Tokyo, Suga agrees with this language-the first such statement in fifty years.

The White House does not expect the moon to reach Suga. But one person said that the United States is “strongly pushing” to adopt a stronger language against China. The second person said that Biden hoped that Moon would be more willing because he was fortunate to have the privilege of the government’s second in-person summit in Washington.

Seoul has asked the United States to provide the Covid-19 vaccine to solve the problem of tight supply. It has proposed a “vaccine swap” plan, which will involve the United States providing vaccines in the short term, and retrieving them in the future.

The White House declined to comment on discussions with South Korea. The Blue House declined to comment on the US pressure on China.

Moon also hopes to win Biden’s assurance on how the US President intends to resolve this issue. North Korea’s nuclear threat After three fruitless meetings between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

The Moon government has been pushing Biden to relax international sanctions on Pyongyang or to implement sanctions with greater flexibility. Pull Jin back to the table Conduct nuclear negotiations.

The Biden administration recently completed a review of North Korea’s policy, and the president’s team expressed his willingness to resume diplomatic contacts, but sanctions will remain in place until Kim Jong-il moves toward major denuclearization.

Seoul also hopes that Biden will appoint a North Korean special envoy, but a person familiar with the matter said that the White House is divided on the candidates, which shows that it is unlikely to announce the news before the summit.

Executives from Korean company Will go to Washington with Moon, and is expected to announce news about semiconductors, batteries and electric vehicles invested in the United States.

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