Republican committee chief urges 'heightened vigilance' over S. Korea-China ties: report

WASHINGTON — The Republican leader of the congressional committee on U.S.-China competition has urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to remain vigilant over the growing ties between South Korea and China, which he believes could present substantial threats to the United States, according to a report on Wednesday. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), the chair of the Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, delivered this message in a letter, highlighting the intensifying leader-to-leader connections between Seoul and Beijing, the rising South Korean investments in China's semiconductor industry, and the perceived unfair treatment of American companies in South Korea relative to their Chinese counterparts, as reported by Reuters.

Moolenaar, while acknowledging South Korea as a key American ally, cautioned that the rapid rate of leader-level interaction between the two nations could potentially lead to a fundamental change in Seoul's allegiance. He expressed apprehension about the "unprecedented" speed at which South Korea and China have been engaging at the highest political level, noting that Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit to South Korea in 11 years last year, and that President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea was in Beijing for high-level talks shortly after.