Taiwan said on Tuesday that it had lodged a protest with South Korea after a Taiwanese minister was disinvited from a South Korean conference due to “cross-Strait issues.”
Taiwan’s Digital Minister, Audrey Tang, had been originally invited in September to speak virtually at the 4th Global Policy Conference in Seoul on December 16. The minister was set to make an address titled “Taiwan’s Digital Social Innovation” during the “Social Innovation” session at the one-day event, which focused on how technology can be utilised to combat the climate crisis and infectious diseases.
However, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Joanne Ou, said that the South Korean Presidential Committee on the 4th Industrial Revolution, which organised the event, cancelled the diplomat’s invite through e-mail only a few hours prior to her address. Ou elaborated that the organisers cited “various aspects of cross-Strait issues,” possibly referring to pressure from Beijing over Tang’s invitation.
The term, which refers to the Taiwan Strait, is commonly used to describe relations between Taiwan and China, which considers the self-governing island to be part of its own territory.
Calling the late cancellation “rude and inappropriate,” the spokesperson added that Taiwan’s foreign ministry had summoned Hong Soon-chang, the deputy representative and acting chief of the Korean Mission in Taipei, on Monday to “express strong dissatisfaction over the impolite action.” The mission officially represents South Korean interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
The spokesperson announced that the island’s de facto ambassador to Seoul, Tang Diann-wen, had also lodged a protest regarding the matter. Ou also said that as a sovereign state, Taiwan has every right to conduct exchanges with partners internationally and that it will continue to enhance cooperation with democratic countries around the world.
South Korea, which officially recognises Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, responded to the protest by saying that the decision had been made “after a comprehensive review of all related aspects.”
Addressing the matter, South Korean foreign ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam told reporters on Tuesday that Seoul’s position on Taiwan “remains the same” and that it “will seek to continue enhancing unofficial exchanges with Taiwan.”
Chinese state-owned media house Global Times cited Lü Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula issue at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, who referred to Tang by saying that Taiwan secessionists should know they are viewed by others as a “virus.”
Despite being a Western ally, South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced earlier this month that his country will not be joining the United States-led diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Moon said that Seoul seeks a “harmonious relationship” with Beijing and added that his administration must to work with Beijing to deal with North Korea and bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. The decision was welcomed by China.