Keywords: South Korean presidential election begins, Vice Premier Wang Qishan visits US for trade talks

South Korean presidential election begins

The polls for South Korea's presidential election opened Wednesday, with more than 40.4 million voters expected to cast their ballots and choose between the daughter of a former president and a former human rights lawyer who once served as chief of staff to late President Roh Moo-hyun.

Park Geun-hye, the former president's daughter, held a slight lead at the death over her rival Moon Jae-in of the center-left main opposition Democratic United Party.

The election aroused worldwide concerns, including Chinese media, over the different possible economic and social policies the two candidates would take were they to win and the possible impact on bilateral relations between Beijing and Seoul.

Economics and people's livelihoods dominate the issues that the voters care the most about, especially the former, according to China News Service.

The article went on to say that both candidates underscored the urgency to carry out reforms on the South Korean financial consortium and to guarantee trade fairness, among others. For example, both of them promised to lead free education projects, ease medical charges and reduce university tuition fees. However, they differ widely on how to implement these. 

With regards to North Korea, the two also seem to have the same stance on the essentials. Both expect to resume the talks between top leaders and expand North-South economic exchanges, according to the report.

Nevertheless, on national security concerns, Park showed her determined attitude to cope with any crisis while Moon emphasized that he would focus on preventing possible bilateral conflicts in advance.

Similarly, People's Daily Online pointed out in an opinion piece on Wednesday that usually voters from different circles, of different ages and educational background, will pick up their favorite candidates having different political stances in the past South Korean presidential elections.

Candidates' policies seemed not as important as the place they were from to voters, the phenomenon of which was called "regionalism," according to the commentary, further explaining that it originated from the long-time formed political hostility between the conservative party and the democratic party located in different areas of the nation.

However, an opinion poll of this year's election showed that the age of the candidates weighed more than the party and the place they come from, according to the commentary. Park was more popular among voters in their 50s and 60s while Moon had more support among those in their 30s and 40s.

The commentary regarded the downplayed role of voter's political hostility against each other during the presidential election as a progress of the nation.

The article further reminds the political parties to pay closer interest to public needs.

Besides, the Beijing News held in an opinion piece on Wednesday that Park's family background, as the daughter of the former president, made her seem steadier and more experienced in handling political and diplomatic issues.

"But Park needs to do more legwork to make the public feel close to her," said the opinion piece by quoting Kim Jin-ho, a professor on politics and diplomacy from South Korea's Dan Kook University.

The professor further pointed out that whoever wins the election will facilitate bilateral relations between Beijing and Seoul. Park herself prioritizes consolidating the relation of the two nations, so long as ties are between South Korea and the US not undermined, while Moon is also keen to stabilize the development of Northeast Asian nations, according to the professor.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan visits US for trade talks

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan led a delegation to visit the US for trade talks on December 18 and 19 in Washington. It is China's first top-level official visit to the US after the leadership transition of the Communist Party of China in November, a positive sign regarded by the Chinese media as part of the nation's effort to strengthen the Sino-US trade.

Wang is to co-chair the 23rd China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), a high-level platform of the two sides to cope with bilateral economic trade and barrier, with US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank and trade representative Ron Kirk.

The Hong Kong China News Agency (HKCNA) commented on December 18 that the economic blueprint outlined in the two-day central economic work conference amid the sluggish global economy, including furthering the reform and economic restructuring, offers great business opportunities to the US.

Such high-level exchanges, coming around a month after the Party's leadership transition, could not only consolidate economic relations between the two sides but also increase the mutual trust of the new leadership teams of both nations.

However, the article also pointed out that the US may press China to take actions over the longstanding bilateral trade conflicts while Washington's financial distress could also trigger Chinese blame of its financial policies.

Whether this round of talks could help address the Sino-US trade predicament is still an open question, the article held.

Echoing the HKCNA, China News Service said that China's export volume of high-end products, such as those in the knowledge sector and technology-intensive items, will increase as Sino-US trade deepens. As a result, the conflicts over intellectual property will probably rise as well.

Stable trade cooperation between China and the US matters a lot in maintaining a sound bilateral relationship between the two nations, opined the article, adding that such practical high-level dialogues are of great significance.