TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China’s response to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s remark about Taiwan has prompted a rare retort from the South Korean government.
Yoon on Wednesday (April 19) told Reuters in an interview that tensions across the Taiwan Strait “occurred because of the attempts to change the status quo by force, and we together with the international community absolutely oppose such a change.” He added, "The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue."
When asked for China’s reaction to the remarks during a routine press conference on Thursday (April 20), China foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) began with the usual, “There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an unalienable part of China.”
He claimed the “Taiwan issue” is “purely China’s domestic politics,” adding, “Resolving the Taiwan issue is Chinese’ own business, there is no room for others to put in a word.” Wang further claimed that it is a “widely known fact” that the “Korean Peninsula issue” is nothing like the Taiwan issue.
He urged South Korea to “address the Taiwan issue with caution.”
Liberty Times reported the South Korean foreign ministry later issued a statement to the press, saying China’s response “warrants a criticism on the severe diplomatic faux pas and makes people doubt China’s national character.”
The retort is deemed “rare” because South Korea usually refrains from commenting or taking sides on China-related issues.
