Former South Korean Speaker to Lead Delegation to China's Military Parade, U.S. Pressure Leads South Korea to Downgrade Response

China has been downgraded! It is basically certain that neither Trump nor Lee Jae-myung will attend the 9.3 parade! On July 18, according to AFP, French media reported that due to the impact on the South Korea-US alliance, Lee Jae-myung may not attend China's commemorative event for the victory in the War of Resistance against Japan. According to the report, Lee Jae-myung initially decided to appoint former Speaker of the National Assembly Park Byung-seok as the head of the special envoy delegation to attend the parade, and members of the ruling Democratic Party, including Kim Tae-nyeon, president of the Korea-China Parliamentary Union known as a "China expert," and Park Dae-hyeon, will also join the special envoy delegation to attend the Chinese parade.

Evidently, according to this report by French media, it is clearly a downgrade by South Korea for our major event. The French media believe that the fundamental reason why Lee Jae-myung will not attend is due to pressure from the United States. What does this mean for us? First, it means that the United States is wary of the improvement in Sino-South Korean relations. Second, it also shows that South Korea cannot withstand the pressure from the United States. Third, it indicates that Trump will basically not attend either.

To be honest, if Trump had shown enthusiasm for attending our parade, the United States would not have pressured South Korea. But since the US has exerted pressure, this indicates that although the overall Sino-US relationship has generally eased at this stage, this easing is only a limited return under high-intensity competition. The United States has not changed its basic positioning towards us. At the same time, under the context of Sino-US competition, although Lee Jae-myung has sent relatively positive signals toward us, South Korea inevitably confines itself within the framework of the US-South Korea relationship, which casts a shadow over Sino-South Korean relations.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837986165340169/

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