China's policy toward (South) Korea: objectives of and obstacles to the strategic partnership

Abstract This paper examines Korean–Chinese relations in the context of the framework of the strategic partnership that has been in place since the 1990s. The relationship was considered to share the same characteristics as those between China and Russia, China and India, China and Vietnam, and China and Pakistan—yet differed in terms of content and significance. Despite its strong non-alliance policy toward foreign nations, China still pushed through with the forging of a partnership with the Lee Myung-bak administration, which had just been launched under the newly reinforced ROK–U.S. alliance. This paper examines the reasons behind this partnership, theorizing that the significance hierarchy within the partnership had been weakened, and that the meaning of “strategic” had been expanded. Other reasons contributing to the forging of the new partnership between Korea and China included the following: counter-balancing the excessively pro-U.S. policy adopted by Korea and subsequent renewal of the strong RO...