| Members of civic organizations hold a protest against China, accusing the country of violating basic human rights and calling for a boycott against the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, near the Chinese embassy in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap |
Experts say situation may affect neck-and-neck race
By Jung Da-min
Anti-China sentiment, which erupted suddenly due to controversial decisions by judges at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has become an unexpected variable swaying the upcoming presidential election, with swing voters in their 20s and 30s responding emotionally to the incidents. Rival political parties are scrambling to take a dig at China in order to appeal to those voters.
Many Koreans, ranging from presidential candidates to the general public, have expressed anger toward China after the disqualification of two of their 1000m short track speedskaters, calling the refereeing decisions “biased and unacceptable.”
Anti-China sentiment among Koreans was stoked by China's economic retaliation against Korea's deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system and Beijing's nationalism initiative known as the Northeast Project aimed at incorporating the histories of other East Asian countries into China's own history.
But the recent controversies surrounding the judgments at the Bejing Olympics coincide with Korea's next presidential election which is just about a month away.
Resentment against China has especially been growing in online communities after short track speedskaters Hwang Dae-heon and Lee June-seo were disqualified in the men's 1,000m semifinals, Monday, for violating regulations during their races. But most Koreans believe such judgments were intentionally made in favor of China and cannot be tolerated.
| Hwang Dae-heon of Korea goes past China's Ren Ziwei and Li Wenlong during the men's 1,000m semifinal 1 short track speedskating event at the Winter Olympics Capital Indoor Stadium on Monday. Newsis |
The two mainstream rival candidates, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP), swiftly issued strong messages to condemn what they referred to as “unfair” judgments in the Olympics.
Political watchers said the situation surrounding growing anti-China sentiment among Koreans can affect the presidential competition, especially when the two rivals, Lee and Yoon, have been in a neck-and-neck race in recent opinion polls.
They said the situation could be favorable to Yoon, who had already been using anti-China sentiment in his presidential campaign. For example, Yoon has vowed to deploy additional U.S. THAAD systems if he becomes the next president.
Park Chang-hwan, a political commentator and a professor at Jangan University, said the ruling liberal bloc led by President Moon Jae-in and the DPK have focused on keeping good relations and issued neutral messages when dealing with China-related controversies. But he said such diplomatic efforts of the ruling bloc have fueled anti-China sentiment among members of the public.
“For example, when controversies rose over China's alleged appropriation of the Korean traditional dress known as hanbok during last week's opening ceremony, the Korean government issued statements with a neutral tone. Culture Minister Hwang Hee belatedly issued a statement of protest but it was only after controversies grew bigger,” Park said.
“For the PPP's Yoon, who has already been using anti-China sentiment in his campaigning, this could offer a good opportunity to win more support from voters. But Yoon, at the same time, is also being careful not to issue overly strong messages to avoid a situation where the controversies develop into diplomatic issues. . . . The DPK and Lee swiftly issued statements to condemn China's 'unfair' intervention in the Olympics to minimize negative effects from the issue, when the ruling bloc is often associated with its China-friendly policies,” Park said.
| Lee June-seo of Korea, fourth from left, skates among other athletes during the men's 1,000m semifinal 2 short track speedskating event at the Winter Olympics Capital Indoor Stadium on Feb. 7. Newsis |
Another political commentator, Choi Young-il, said the political parties and the government should deal with the issue based on international rules and reasonable standards, while also meeting expectations of the members of the public by protesting against unjust situations.
“It is desirable that political parties are trying to understand the public sentiment and issuing diplomatic responses to China based on it. But they should not be instigating people with inappropriate messages to win more votes,” Choi said.