South Korea’s Lee arrives in Beijing amid Asia tensionsAFP, BEIJINGSouth Korean President Lee Jae-myung arrived in China yesterday, eager to boost economic ties with Seoul’s largest trading partner while keeping a lid on potentially explosive issues such as Taiwan. Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit Beijing in six years, and his four-day trip comes less than a week after China carried out massive military drills around Taiwan. South Korean and Chinese flags are displayed at Tiananmen Square in Beijing yesterday. Kang Jun-young, a professor at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said Beijing was seeking to draw South Korea away from Washington’s sphere of influence. “China views South Korea as the weakest link at a time when trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan is strengthening,” he said.

Source: Taipei Times January 04, 2026 16:01 UTC