Youth view each other more favorably: expert
The 25th anniversary of Sino-South Korean diplomatic relations on Thursday is an opportunity to promote a healthy and stable relationship with South Korea, experts said.
"Since China and South Korea established diplomatic relations, with understanding and respect, the two countries' relationship has been progressing, which has brought benefits to the people of the two countries and made contributions to regional stability," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press briefing on Wednesday.
"China values the development of Sino-South Korean relations and wants to take the opportunity of the 25th anniversary to review and conclude the experience and lessons of the past 25 years with South Korea to remember the beginning [of ties], consolidate trust and solve divergences properly," Hua said.
China and South Korea established diplomatic relations on August 24 1992.
The relationship between China and South Korea had been suspended for decades, but 25 years ago, as if to compensate, the relationship took a leap forward in development, Choi Youngsam, Minister Counsellor of the South Korean Embassy in Beijing, wrote in an article published in the China Youth Daily on Wednesday.
"China's diplomatic relations with South Korea, compared with other countries, developed more quickly, and were broader and deeper, because the two countries are closely connected in history and share a similar culture and ethnic characteristics," Zheng Jiyong, director of the Center for Korean Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will exchange messages with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Thursday, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reported on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook joined Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong and his wife at an exhibition of works by Chinese painter Qi Baishi in Seoul to mark the anniversary, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported.
According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, the Sixth National Population Census of China in 2010 showed that 120,750 South Koreans were living in the Chinese mainland, the largest group of foreign nationals.
The South Korean government in May 2016 said that around 986,000 Chinese nationals live in South Korea, accounting for 50.8 percent of the country's foreign residents, South Korea's Yonhap Agency reported.
Visitors from China made up 46.8 percent of tourists to South Korea last year, the BBC reported.
Ground to make up
However, Sino-South Korean ties have soured over the deployment of the US-backed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea. Chinese companies and the general public have also taken action to boycott South Korea's Lotte Group amid mounting anger over the company's land-swap deal with the South Korean military for THAAD.
Meanwhile, data from the Korea Tourism Organization on Tuesday showed that 69.3 percent fewer Chinese tourists visited South Korea in July compared with the same period in 2016.
Qu Huan, head of the China-Republic of Korea Friendship Association, said that Sino-South Korean relations have been jittery recently, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday. "However, the strictness in political trust calls for openness in communication among people," she said.
"China and South Korea are encountering political and economic difficulties, so now, enhancing the understanding of each other's culture and deepening trust between the peoples are particularly important," Qu said.
"As close neighbors, it is natural that South Korea and China have disagreements and problems … but we can' t just stop communicating with each other," Choi wrote in his article.
"The two countries should have frank and honest communication, and use the current situation as an opportunity to make Sino-South Korean relations healthy and mature," he added.
In the past 25 years, the relationship has experienced ups and downs, but the foundations have never been damaged. In the future, the two should overcome the frictions, build political trust and learn from experience to maintain a healthy relationship, Zheng noted.
Young connections
"I spent half of my life in China studying and working, and I feel half-Chinese," Cho Su-jin, a South Korean graduate of the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday. Cho lived in China for a decade and now works in Seoul in the apparel industry.
"China and South Korea are greatly connected economically and culturally, but since last year the THAAD issue has brought some problems to the political relationship, and it's also affected my work," Cho said.
"But I believe the relationship between China and South Korea will get on a firmer footing," she said.
"Most Koreans are very friendly, hospitable and polite. It was comfortable to live in South Korea," Dong Jun, a 26-year-old Chinese resident who lived in Jeonju, South Korea, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Dong is now working in the South Korean cosmetics trade in East China's Shandong Province. "Many young Chinese people like the selection and quality of South Korean cosmetics," she said.
"Older generations might still be influenced by cold war thoughts, but youngsters from China and South Korea are a new force that promotes Sino-South Korean relations through communication," Zheng said.
"They can be a bridge to keeping the friendship stable and healthy in the future," he noted.
