China slams S. Korean President's Taiwan remarks as 'erroneous'
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The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister tells South Korea's ambassador to China that Yoon's remarks were "totally unacceptable".
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an interview for Reuters at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, April 18, 2023 (Reuters)
China confirmed on Sunday that it had lodged a complaint with Seoul over South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's "erroneous" remarks about Taiwan, as a diplomatic spat simmers between the Asian neighbors.
Beijing and Seoul have traded criticism over a Reuters interview with Yoon this month, in which he called tensions between China and Taiwan a "global issue" similar to the DPRK and blamed the recently heightened tensions on "attempts to change the status quo by force."
China claims Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day, with Beijing insisting that its dealings with Taipei are purely internal matters.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that its Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong had been ordered on Thursday to make a "solemn representation" to the South Korean ambassador over Yoon's comments.
Sun told the ambassador that Yoon's remarks were "totally unacceptable" and expressed "strong dissatisfaction," the Ministry said.
China's statement comes ahead of Yoon's state visit to key ally the United States, which Beijing has blamed for arming Taiwan and encouraging separatist politicians.
Yoon "made no mention of the One China principle, but equated the Taiwan issue with the Korean Peninsula issue," Sun pointed out.
"Both North and South Korea are sovereign states that have joined the United Nations. It is a well-known fact that the Korean Peninsula issue and the Taiwan issue are completely different in nature and in latitude and longitude, and are not comparable at all," he added.
The Taiwan question is a matter "belonging to the Chinese themselves and no force can be allowed to interfere," Sun underlined, urging Seoul to "adhere to the One-China Principle and be careful in words and actions relating to the Taiwan issue."
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin had previously criticized Yoon's remarks, calling it a "universally known fact" that the Taiwan issue was not comparable to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
This prompted South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday to rebuke China for its "serious diplomatic discourtesy."
Tensions have escalated in the Taiwan Strait in recent years, with the US frequently sending its warships to sail through the Strait and China launching military exercises earlier this month after the provocative visit made by Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States, where she met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
