Editor's note: Wamika Kapur is a fellow at international think tank Global Policy Insights and an Indian PhD scholar of international relations at South Korea's Yonsei University. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China's CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau member, Yang Jiechi, recently completed his visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) where he met National Security Advisor Suh Hoon. Why has this meeting come at this time?

Sino-ROK relations stand at a crucial juncture and collaboration between the countries is essential for the peace in East Asia. It has major geopolitical implications on a global, regional and peninsula level and offered a unique opportunity for both countries to recommit their support toward multilateralism, free trade and peninsular peace.

America is leading a campaign against China by forming an "arc of democracy" and the ROK is a middle power caught in between. Each country fulfills a different need; China is the ROK's largest trading partner while the ROK is dependent on the U.S. for defense requirements.

However, America has recently proven itself to be an unreliable partner as its "America First" policy has pushed it toward isolationism, withdrawing from multiple international agreements and repudiating its security guarantees, which put the ROK in a vulnerable position vis-à-vis the DPRK.

The Trump administration has had three summits with the DPRK which failed to make any progress toward denuclearization and in May it charged 28 DPRK and five Chinese citizens in its largest crackdown on DPRK sanctions violations, further raising tensions.

The ROK is also deadlocked in negotiations with the U.S. over burden-sharing in the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). In 2017, Sino-ROK relations were jeopardized by U.S. insistence of installation of a U.S. missile defense system, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in the ROK despite China's protests that it could be used by the U.S. to spy on China.

This offers China a unique opportunity to boost its economic, trade and cultural exchanges with the ROK. In a world where the majority of diplomatic business is being conducted virtually, the face-to-face meeting highlights the fact that both countries have been successful in their COVID-19 responses. This sets the tone for expanding trade between the Asian powers in the post-pandemic world starting with creating travel bubbles, tourism being a major source of revenue.

The ROK has also shown the intent of maintaining good relations with China. During the pandemic, over 20,000 Korean companies stayed in China. As seen by the latest ROK defense plan, there is also a clear shift toward more military sovereignty.

Despite growing pressure, while Japan has aligned itself with the U.S., the ROK has not taken a stance on Hong Kong, Huawei or TikTok. U.S. moves to ban Chinese companies have been extremely detrimental to the ROK's economy.

The ROK's chip sales to China are almost double of that of the U.S. and it has called the latest sanctions on semiconductor sales to Huawei "unacceptable." Samsung is in talks with Huawei to provide chipsets using Japanese and European technology which would be a welcome relief in the absence of sales from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

On a regional level, China supports the ROK as the chair of China-Japan-ROK cooperation. According to the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), China-Japan-ROK cooperation accounts for 23 percent of the global GDP, 20 percent of the global population and global trade volume, and 59.7 percent of the global patent applications. They are also major donors to the Official Development Assistance (ODA).

However, ROK-Japan relations have been deteriorating over historical issues where the ROK seeks reparations for atrocities committed during the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula, particularly comfort women and forced labor.

In 2018, the ROK's top court ordered Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy to compensate Koreans over forced labor and upon non-compliance seized their assets in the  ROK. In 2019, Japan removed the ROK from favored trade partner status and imposed export controls in the electronics sector.

China plays an important role in paving the way to de-escalation in the conflict between the ROK and Japan and promoting cooperation on issues of regional security, establishing multilateral trade deals and information sharing.

On a peninsular level, ROK-DPRK relations are at an all-time low after failed denuclearization talks between the U.S. and DPRK and the anti-DPRK leaflet incident which led to the DPRK blowing up the Kaesong liaison office, cutting off all communication with the South and threatening military action.

ROK National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug has expressed his wish to engage with the DPRK on disease prevention, health, agriculture and forestry as well as railroads but to no avail. China wishes to play a constructive role in settlement of the issue of the Korean Peninsula by facilitating dialogue.

Being a major trading partner to both Koreas, China has enjoyed a steady relationship with the peninsula and is in a perfect position to play the middleman. The ROK's unification minister, Lee In-young, has hailed China's role and expects China's cooperation going forward.

The meeting is a part of China's attempts to bolster its Asia diplomacy and foreshadows a proposed visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the ROK. It comes after Yang's visit with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong aimed at deepening mutual trust and cooperation with Singapore where those of Chinese descent account for 70 percent of the population. 

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)