ABSTRACT
A snapshot of relations between China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) before and after 1990 presents two dramatically different pictures. For most of the postwar era, relations between these two powers were virtually non-existent. Two adversaries employed policies of containment, non-dialogue, and nonrecognition against one another. The experience of the Korean War and the Cold War made for enemy images of the South as a forward base for US imperialist aggression, and images of China as a menacing patron of the North Korean threat. This dim picture starkly contrasts with the one after 1990. Rapidly expanding trade relations led to the establishment of trade offices in 1991. Nondialogue of the past gave way to fully normalized and amiable relations in 1992. Beijing supported Seoul on a number of significant political and security issues against the wishes of its longtime ally in Pyongyang. Among other things, Beijing now fully accepts the ROK as a legitimate government on the peninsula. It has opposed the North’s suspected drive for nuclear weapons, it has supported Seoul’s United Nations membership, and it has opposed North Korea’s desire to accommodate Taiwanese nuclear waste.
