Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming's 15-minute criticism of our government's diplomacy during a dinner with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has sparked controversy. In response, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Lee, saying, "Displaying such behavior as if he were a Chinese lackey is a tremendous disgrace."
On the 12th, Ha said on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal,' "Do you know what Lee's nickname is online these days? He is called 'Li Zaiming' online," referring to the Chinese pronunciation of Lee's name.
He explained the reason for the nickname, saying, "It is the Chinese-style pronunciation of Lee's name," and "Lee acted as if he was supporting China instead of Korea during the Korea-China soccer match."
Ambassador Xing Haiming caused controversy at the dinner with Lee by saying something to the effect of "You will regret it if you don't bet on China," which is pointed out as a typical example of China's 'Wolf Warrior Diplomacy.' Ha said, "China is conducting very aggressive diplomatic offensives not only against our country but globally. Other countries have already experienced this," adding, "Our country also needs a fundamental reorganization of its China strategy on this occasion."
He emphasized the need to organize a strategy against China's 'Wolf Warrior Diplomacy' following the Xing Haiming incident. He said, "Ambassador Xing Haiming was actually reading what the Chinese government wrote," and "This is not just a simple incident; such offensives may intensify in the future. We need to wisely respond to this. This is an opportunity to organize our approach."
Within the People Power Party, there are calls to designate Ambassador Xing Haiming as an unwelcome person and expel him. Ha said, "The fundamental opponent is not the ambassador but the Chinese government, so we should not fight with the ambassador personally but develop a political strategy against the Chinese government," adding, "How we proceed from now on?whether to continue tit-for-tat confrontations as you asked, whether we have leverage?these need to be comprehensively reviewed."
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