[quote=@SillyGoy]

The Galactic Council is the first time that the Wo have voluntarily and so openly stepped out of their space to interact with other empires. You could say that only now is the Harmony establishing formal diplomatic relations with the rest of the Galaxy. Prior exchanges have been inconsequential or covert in nature.
[/quote]
Well, as [@Monkeypants] noted, people that tried going into wo space have been disappearing for quite some time. I'd imagine this is going to give some rough edges, whether or not the wo ever officially recognize their responsibility for these disappearances. After all, the summary execution of unsuspecting explorers generally does not make for a good first contact.