Between Beijing and Seoul: good neighbourly diplomacy

The summit between China and South Korea marks a phase of rapprochement that Lee Jae-myung also wanted to talk about on social media, describing the meeting with Xi as “frank and constructive”. The South Korean president did not conceal his pride in a dialogue that aims to put relations that have been on track in recent years, due to technological competition, US pressure and various tensions related to regional security. Does Taiwan’s voice ring a bell?

Xi Jinping, for his part, reiterated the importance of South Korea in Chinese neighbourhood diplomacy, insisting on key concepts such as cooperation, stability, and mutual benefit. Behind the ritual formulas, however, an actually concrete convergence of interests emerges: Beijing wants to prevent Seoul from rigidly aligning itself with the American containment strategy, while South Korea seeks margins of autonomy in an increasingly difficult and polarised context.

The North Korean knot, between dialogue and deterrence

North Korea inevitably remains at the centre of the talks. Lee asked Xi for a more active and “constructive” role in reducing tensions on the peninsula, focusing on pragmatic measures rather than declarations of principle. The request comes at a delicate moment: a few hours before Lee’s departure for Beijing, Pyongyang launched new ballistic missiles, a clear message addressed to both Seoul and the rest of the actors in the region.

China continues to present itself as a responsible country and guarantor of stability, while avoiding undue pressure on Kim Jong-un. Beijing, in fact, does not want to lose influence over Pyongyang or appear aligned with US or South Korean positions. In fact, however, the persistent North Korean escalation risks making this balance increasingly fragile, pushing Seoul to further strengthen its military alliances.

Taiwan in the background and Washington in the centre

While the North Korea question remains a priority, the real ‘elephant in the room’ is Taiwan. The growing American focus on the Strait has direct repercussions on South Korea, which hosts some 28,000 US troops . Washington is redefining the concept of ‘strategic flexibility’, expanding the potential use of troops stationed on the peninsula even in scenarios beyond deterrence towards Pyongyang.

Such a development worries Seoul, which is aware that an indirect involvement in a crisis over Taiwan could turn the country into a strategic target. At the same time, Beijing views any strengthening of military cooperation between South Korea and the US with suspicion, fearing that Seoul will become a stable cog in the Chinese containment network in the Pacific.

Economics, technology and pragmatism

Despite geopolitical tensions, the economic dimension remains a pillar of the bilateral relationship. China and South Korea share crucial supply chains, especially in technology, manufacturing and innovation. The summit also produced a series of agreements on trade, transport, environment and scientific research, signalling a willingness to insulate the economy from strategic rifts as far as possible.

Lee reiterated respect for the ‘one China’ principle, referring to the Taiwan issue, a move that was anything but symbolic, aimed at reassuring Beijing and preserving spaces for pragmatic cooperation. Xi, for his part, insisted on the need to manage differences through dialogue, preventing ideological differences from becoming insurmountable structural barriers.

A fragile but necessary balance

The summit between Xi and Lee recounts a diplomacy of symbolic gestures and careful calculations. South Korea tries to position itself as a bridging actor between great powers, while China seeks to consolidate its regional role withoutpushing Seoul definitively into the American orbit.

Smiles, gifts and official photos do not erase tensions, but they signal a shared desire: to keep the channels of communication open in the Pacific, avoiding silences and escalations that can quickly become worrying. In the middle, almost as a colourful but not entirely innocent note, is yet another smartphone gifted by Xi Jinping.

Beijing, after all, knows a thing or two about technological diplomacy. From ‘untraceable’ phones donated to political allies(see Huawei to Maduro) to devices that have become symbols of opaque relations and then ended up under international seizure, the smartphone gift is often more than just an object. It is a real message: connectivity, trust, access.

The Xiaomi in the hands of President Lee is not just a gadget. Xiaomi literally means ‘small grain of rice’, a Buddhist reference to the idea that even the smallest thing can generate profound change. And if you turn the Mi logo upside down, ‘Xin‘, the heart character in Chinese, emerges. A detail only apparently marginal, which sums up well the Chinese strategy: to talk about technology while communicating influence.