[Yonhap News Photo]
(This article was contributed by Kim Bong-hyun who served as South Korea's former ambassador to Australia.)
According to Kenneth Waltz, an international political scientist, countries have developed survival strategies such as balance and alliance. as the war has been caused by the anarchy of international politics. But it's not clear whether international politics in the 21st century will proceed according to his theory. The world is watching with hope and fear that it will be reorganized into the Cold War balance, or whether the U.S. and China will cooperate and move into a new era of peace and cooperation.
Although Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized a new international relationship for peace and cooperation rather than an alliance, he stressed that China would not allow any provocation against its interests. If it is about the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands, China is unlikely to seek reconciliation and cooperation with the U.S. and Japan in the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan has tried to check China, taking its rise as a reality. Such efforts have become acute in the days of Prime Minister Abe, who conceived of a new form of alliance and power balance called "India-Pacific cooperation strategy", not to mention a strengthened U.S.-Japan alliance. China, which has established a sea route to connect Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is pursuing a strategy called 'Pearl Necklace" to advance into the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Europe.
Abe and Trump described the "free and open India-Pacific strategy" as a superficial concept to open up the era of cooperation beyond the existing Asia-Pacific region. But China believes it probably contains an intention to block the pearl necklace. Before the new concept was introduced, Japan has tried to form a "diamond" partnership by drawing Australia and India into the U.S.-Japan alliance.
In an effort to dispel suspicions that the diamond partnership targets China, Japan is trying to promote 'India-Pacific strategy', but its strategy is hard to succeed as long as China is well aware of it.
South Korea, Australia, India and Indonesia share a common democratic market economy and universal values. Furthermore, South Korea, Australia and Indonesia are members of MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia), and South Korea and Australia are major partners negotiating diplomatic and security issues through 2 + 2.
If the four countries can unite for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, it will not be a confrontational alliance for survival in the 21st century but will evolve into a partnership for cooperation and common development. Also, we will be able to create our own strategy without worrying about where we are going to be pinched between 'Pearl Necklace' and 'Diamond'. The ROK-US alliance is for restraining North Korea, not for blocking China.
reporter
Kim Bong-hyun
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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