China, Japan, South Korea agree to revive summit at ‘earliest convenient time’
- Senior officials from neighboring countries hold talks in Seoul and agree trilateral cooperation is in ‘common interests’, Beijing says
- Ministry spokesman did not say when foreign ministers will meet or when the leaders’ summit – suspended since 2019 – will be held
The foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea will soon meet and a long-stalled summit will resume at the “earliest convenient time”, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said an agreement to revive the three-way summit – which has been suspended since 2019 – was reached during talks between senior officials in Seoul earlier in the day.
Nong Rong, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs, and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Chung Byung-won and Takehiro Funakoshi, attended the meeting.
Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said an agreement to revive the three-way summit – which has been suspended since 2019 – was reached during talks between senior officials in Seoul earlier in the day.
Nong Rong, China’s assistant minister of foreign affairs, and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Chung Byung-won and Takehiro Funakoshi, attended the meeting.
“The three sides held in-depth discussions on promoting the steady relaunch of China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, and agreed that the development of three-way cooperation is in the common interests of the three sides,” Wang told a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
He did not say when the countries’ foreign ministers would meet or when a leaders’ summit would be held.
Wang said the three sides had agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, and cooperation on the economy and trade, as well as science, technology and innovation, sustainable development, and public health.
The first trilateral summit was held in 2008 but it has been suspended since the coronavirus pandemic began and amid strained ties between the neighbouring countries.
Wang said the three sides had agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, and cooperation on the economy and trade, as well as science, technology and innovation, sustainable development, and public health.
The first trilateral summit was held in 2008 but it has been suspended since the coronavirus pandemic began and amid strained ties between the neighbouring countries.
- At the last such gathering, in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, leaders of the three countries called for closer communication, cooperation on trade and promotion, and de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
The US is concerned that a strained relationship between its two allies may complicate its diplomacy in Asia. Beijing, meanwhile, is worried about Washington’s close alliance with Tokyo and Seoul, which it sees as a NATO-like mechanism in Asia.
- US President Joe Biden, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at Camp David last month, jointly condemning China for its “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea.
- Relations between Beijing and Tokyo also hit a low point in late August when Japan began releasing treated radioactive waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, a plan that China strongly opposed.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping met South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asian Games in Hangzhou. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that Xi said during the meeting that he was “seriously considering” a visit to Seoul.
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