China's embassy in South Korea on Tuesday expressed "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition" to South Korea for making "consecutive erroneous remarks" regarding the Taiwan issue in coordination with the United States and Japan.
On Friday, senior South Korean, US and Japanese diplomats met in the US, and announced that they oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific and recognize the importance of opposing unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.
On Sunday, defense ministers from the three countries also met in Singapore and reaffirmed their position, calling for peace and stability in the South China Sea.
Citing the two series of meetings, a spokesperson for the embassy said the series of remarks "rudely interfered" in China's internal affairs and maliciously smear and attack China.
"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this, and has lodged solemn representations with South Korea," according to the statement posted on Chinese social media platform WeChat.
Reiterating that Taiwan is part of China's territory, the embassy further urged South Korea to be cautious with its words and actions regarding the Taiwan issue.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also said Monday that the three countries used their trilateral defense ministers' meeting and trilateral vice foreign minister-level dialogue to "deliberately attack and vilify China."
Meanwhile, South Korea reiterated that its stance on the issue remains unchanged. The Seoul government has repeatedly stated its commitment to respecting the "One China" policy.
"Our government's basic position on the Taiwan issue remains unchanged," Lim Soo-suk, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said during a regular press briefing. He added that the Seoul government is closely communicating with Beijing on various issues concerning the two countries.
"We hope for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations through dialogue and cooperation," Lim said.
