SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MAY 26: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (3rd, left) speaks with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang (2nd, right) during a bilateral meeting at the Presidential Office on May 26, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Ahn Young-Joon – Pool/Getty Images)
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China on Monday called on Japan and South Korea to reject “protectionism” and uphold free trade as the two countries’ leaders met for a trilateral summit in Seoul.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang said he opposed turning economic and trade issues into “political games or security matters,” Chinese state media reported, as he met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Li said the three countries should see each other as “partners and development opportunities,” Xinhua reported.
This is the ninth such trilateral summit between China, Japan and South Korea, but the first in more than four years, as they aim to revitalize economic and security ties.
In a joint statement released after the summit, the three leaders agreed to “institutionalize” trilateral cooperation through the regular holding of the trilateral summit and ministerial meetings.
They also agreed to continue talks to “accelerate negotiations” on a free trade agreement that would be “fair, comprehensive, high quality and mutually beneficial.”
The summit is crucial for stabilizing relations between the three countries, even if it does not “translate into any kind of concrete initiative,” said Stephen Nagy. Professor at the International Christian University in Tokyo.
China wants to dissuade both South Korea and Japan from the initiatives that the United States has put on the table, he told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Monday.
“Under President Biden, there have been tremendous successes in bringing Seoul, Tokyo and Washington together through the Camp David principles,” he said, adding that China was wary of such cooperation and driving a “wedge” between the US and South Korea want Japan.
The summit comes at a time when regional security is at the forefront amid North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. Shortly before the summit, Pyongyang announced plans to launch a missile.
The three countries jointly called for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and pledged to make “positive efforts toward a political solution” to the problem.
Both Japan and South Korea are aware that China has “very little influence over North Korea,” Nagy said.
“If there is going to be any kind of cooperation in curbing arms proliferation from North Korea, it will not be through targeted cooperation with China,” but through cooperation with each other and with the United States, he added.
In the economic sphere, countries agreed to ensure a global level playing field that is transparent for trade and investment.
“We share the need to continue communication in the area of export control,” the statement said.
China is a huge market that both countries should ignore, said Tobias Harris, deputy director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
“It’s a big market, I don’t think any of them are in a position to give up China as a market to sell,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” before Monday’s meeting, adding: will in future will be a challenge.
On the eve of the summit, Li held bilateral talks with the leaders of South Korea and Japan. He also called on both countries to maintain an unhindered supply chain and protect the global free trade system.
Japan’s Kishida said he had expressed “serious concerns” to Li in their discussions over the weekend about issues such as the situation in the South China Sea.
He also said Japan is closely monitoring relevant developments in Taiwan, including China’s military activities near the island. The Japanese Prime Minister stressed that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are extremely important to the international community, including Japan.
Both Beijing and Tokyo will want to try to find a way to keep their relationship stable, Harris said.
However, given that Japan has moved closer to supporting Taiwan and cooperating with the United States, the security environment “makes it very difficult to insulate Japan-China economic relations from all these developments,” he added.
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2024-05-27 08:39:09
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