SoKor Slams "Rude" China Retort On Taiwan As Global Issue

South Korea's foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador to Seoul in protest on Thursday night as the two countries descended into a war of words over Taiwan.

Photo Insert: South Korean first vice foreign minister Chang Ho-jin told Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming that remarks by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin earlier in the day amounted to a "serious diplomatic discourtesy."

The protest was in response to the Chinese foreign ministry's "rude" reaction to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's statement on Wednesday that Taiwan "is a global issue," South China Morning Post reported.

South Korean first vice foreign minister Chang Ho-jin told Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming that remarks by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin earlier in the day amounted to a "serious diplomatic discourtesy."

Chang added: "In response to our leader's mention of the universal principle that we oppose the change of the status quo [of Taiwan] by force ... [Wang] made an unspeakable statement," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

Chang said China should make efforts to clear unnecessary obstacles to bilateral relations brought about by this incident. But Beijing doubled down on Friday, saying the South Korean foreign ministry's comments were "erroneous" and China had lodged its own concerns on the issue.

The row began when Yoon said in an interview with Reuters that the "Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue."

He was commenting on military drills launched by mainland forces around the self-ruled island following Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California earlier this month - a meeting deemed by Beijing as a challenge to China's sovereignty.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out using force to take control of the self-ruled island. Most countries do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state but are opposed to any forceful change in the status quo.

The Taiwanese have ruled themselves for the past 6,000 years and China never administered the island even for a second despite an imperial edict in the 17th that described Taiwan as a province of China. More than 94% of the Taiwanese do not consider themselves Han Chinese.

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