China summons South Korean, Japanese diplomats to lodge Taiwan-related protests

China's Foreign Ministry summoned senior South Korean and Japanese diplomats in Beijing to lodge a protest regarding Taiwan on Wednesday.

New Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te, center, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim, right, and former President Tsai Ing-wen wave during Lai's inauguration ceremonies in Taipei, Taiwan, on Monday. [AP/YONHAP]

China's Foreign Ministry summoned senior South Korean and Japanese diplomats in Beijing to lodge a protest regarding Taiwan on Wednesday. The Chinese government’s action is likely to have been motivated by the presence of South Korean and Japanese political figures at Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration on Monday.

In a press release Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Liu Jin-song, director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs at the ministry, met with Chief Minister of the Japanese Embassy in China Akira Yokochi and Kim Han-kyu, a minister at the Korean Embassy, for a “comprehensive and in-depth exchange of views on matters related to China-Japan-ROK cooperation,” referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

“Lin also expressed China’s solemn position on the Taiwan question,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in the press release.

Although the wording in the Mandarin version of the press release did not use the highest level of protest commonly used by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the term used meant that the South Korean and Japanese diplomats were summoned to a separate location and given a complaint.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not specify the reasons for the summons, but Beijing may have taken issue with the attendance of Korean and Japanese political figures at Lai’s inauguration on Monday.

Previously, the Chinese Embassy in Korea announced in a message to reporters on Tuesday that it had protested the Korean government regarding People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Cho Kyoung-tae’s attendance at the inauguration, calling Cho’s presence an “unauthorized visit.”

“This runs counter to the ROK-China strategic cooperative partnership,” the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said in the message. “We urge South Korea to adhere to the one-China principle and to not interfere in China’s internal affairs in any way.”

In the case of Japan, 31 figures led by a bipartisan group of pro-Taiwan lawmakers attended Lai’s inauguration and met directly with Lai.

South Korea did not formally send a delegation to Lai's inauguration, and an official from Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that "there is no change in our government's position regarding Taiwan" and that South Korea "respects China's one-China principle."

On Thursday, just four days after Lai’s inauguration, China launched a large-scale military exercise around Taiwan, heightening tensions.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]