China’s new leader and Korea

Seoul needs to seek balanced diplomacy wisely

Vice President Xi Jinping was chosen as the general secretary of China’s ruling Communist Party and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) Thursday in a once-in-a-decade leadership transition. He will take over from outgoing president Hu Jintao in March at the annual meeting of parliament.

Xi’s elevation to the top party and military positions, which come hot on the heels of Obama’s re-election, is watched closely here because China is one of two countries that have the strongest impact on the Korean Peninsula. To our relief, the new Chinese leader is reportedly well aware of Korean affairs, raising expectations that our bilateral relationship will progress smoothly under the new leaderships in both Seoul and Beijing.

Xi’s most daunting task will be to steer the world’s most populous country, which has emerged as one of the G2 thanks to its spectacular economic growth over the past decade, into the position of becoming the world’s strongest powerhouse surpassing the United States during his tenure ― an issue that attracts widely different views.

China beat Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy, buoyed by an annual economic growth of 10.8 percent over the last 10 years. Its per capita GDP nearly quintupled to about $5,500 during the period, lifting China to becoming the world’s largest exporting country with foreign exchange reserves of $3 trillion, also the world’s biggest.

However, the coming decade won’t be an easy period for the 59-year-old leader, given the host of challenges facing China.

First of all, he has to address rampant corruption and an ever-widening income gap ― bad legacies spawned by the country’s unparalleled economic achievement. Demands for democracy and enhanced human rights will gush forth and may threaten China’s political system, which is often advocated as a meritocracy by some patriotic Chinese scholars. With the global economic malaise showing little sign of abating, there is growing doubt about China’s export-oriented growth model.

Beijing’s external front is formidable, too. The biggest challenge will come from the U.S. that declared a “pivot to Asia’’ last year amid China’s fast-paced military emergence. The world’s biggest superpower is reportedly in a position to deal with China as a “frenemy’’ ― treating China as a friend when behaving well but otherwise engaging with the country as with an enemy.

Of course, our utmost attention is being paid to how South Korea can craft an amicable relationship with China during the country’s fifth-generation leadership period while keeping its alliance with America intact. When it comes to pursuing peace and stability on the peninsula, Beijing and Washington are believed to be the same. Given this, Seoul needs to walk a fine line wisely between the two giants.

Considering our crucial issues with China such as North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and the proposed free trade agreement, Korea’s next president will have to pay more attention to China. Specifically, it won’t be too much to emphasize the need for balanced diplomacy. <The Korea Times>