Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited the two key US allies last week in an effort to forestall any attempts to build a united front against Beijing. China fears the Biden administration will not herald an immediate shift in Washington’s stance. Dr Collin Koh, a Research Fellow from RSIS said that while Beijing might have pulled Seoul closer economically, South Korea’s formal treaty alliance with the US left it with little wiggle room. “The desire would be to maintain close economic ties with China … while maintaining close security links with the US. On the latter aspect, this would fall short of a security coalition against China – or at least, Seoul wishes to convey the assurance that it isn’t part of such a containment scheme,” he said.