Leaders of China, Japan and South Korea are about to reunite after more than four years

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on May 23 that Premier Li Qiang will go to Seoul, South Korea from May 26 to 27 to attend the 9th China-Japan-ROK Leaders' Meeting.

This will be the first time for the leaders of the three countries to gather together in more than four years since December 2019. What the leaders of the three countries will talk about and what signals they will send to the outside world have attracted much attention. The South Korean Presidential Office said, "This meeting will be a turning point for the comprehensive restoration of cooperation among the three countries."

According to "Reference News", as the host of this meeting, Kim Tae-hyo, the first director of South Korea's National Security Office, introduced the main agenda and topics of this meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Palace in Seoul on the 23rd.

This meeting lasts for two days. On the afternoon of the first day of the 26th, bilateral talks will begin: South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue will hold bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida respectively. The leaders of the three countries will attend the dinner together.

The next day, on the 27th, the ninth China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting will be held. It is expected to last for more than one and a half hours. The leaders of the three countries will deliver speeches in sequence according to the theme of the meeting. After the meeting, the three countries will issue a joint statement. The leaders of the three countries will also jointly attend the China-Japan-ROK Business Summit.

In terms of topics, during the bilateral talks, the leaders of China and South Korea will discuss strengthening strategic communication, deepening economic and trade cooperation, creating a good investment environment in China, promoting personnel exchanges, as well as regional and global focus issues. The leaders of Japan and South Korea will exchange views on deepening practical cooperation, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan and other issues.

During the trilateral leaders' meeting, the three parties will discuss cooperation in six key areas, including personnel exchanges, sustainable development, economic and trade cooperation, health and aging, digital transformation, disaster relief and security, etc.; they will also discuss expanding the scope of trilateral cooperation to the Asia-Pacific and global level.

"The focus of this meeting will be on the economy, people's livelihood, economy and trade, supply chain and intellectual property rights," an official from the South Korean Presidential Office said at a press conference that day.

Taking into account the background of the post-epidemic era, Japanese and Korean public opinion predicted the highlights of this meeting, including whether measures to expand investment will be introduced, whether an agreement can be reached to optimize visa policies, how to support start-ups, how to protect intellectual property rights, etc.

This will be Prime Minister Li Qiang’s first visit to South Korea since he took office in March last year. It will also be the second China-Japan-ROK leaders’ meeting to be held after four years and five months.

Cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea began 25 years ago when they jointly responded to the Asian financial crisis. In 1999, the leaders of the three countries held their first meeting during the ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea Leaders' Meeting in Manila. In 2008, the leaders of the three countries broke out of the 103 framework for the first time and held a separate meeting in Japan, thus launching the annual leaders' meeting mechanism.

Over the years, the three countries have gradually established a cooperation system with the leaders' meeting as the core and supported by ministerial meetings, senior official meetings and more than 70 working-level mechanisms. However, due to factors such as bilateral relations and regional situations, the trilateral cooperation mechanism has been suspended from time to time. Since the last meeting in December 2019, the meeting of the leaders of the three countries has been delayed in restarting.

Today, although there are still many uncertainties in bilateral relations and the external environment, the resumption of the trilateral leaders' meeting has itself sent a positive signal to the outside world.

Public opinion pointed out that this meeting showed that the three countries hope to restore mutual trust, promote economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges, and improve the quality of people's lives. The resumption of meetings among the three countries will lay the foundation for easing regional tensions and consolidating trilateral and bilateral relations.

"In view of the international status and economic scale of the three countries, the resumption of cooperation among the three countries is crucial to maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity." The South Korean government's e-government official website said.

As the meeting date approaches, the governments of the three countries respectively expressed their expectations for the meeting.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin pointed out on the 23rd that in the context of the current complex evolution of the international and regional situation, China expects this meeting to inject new momentum into the cooperation among the three countries and better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results among the three countries. China is willing to work with Japan and South Korea to implement important consensuses such as the "Prospects for China-Japan-ROK Cooperation in the Next Ten Years", deepen cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, science and technology, and humanities, promote regional economic integration in East Asia, and promote peace and stability in the region and the world. and prosperity.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Masaru said on the 23rd that the leaders of the three countries shoulder the responsibility for regional peace and prosperity, and the issues discussed at the meeting are important opportunities for the entire region; the three countries will discuss trade and investment rules.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the event on the 23rd and said that the three countries will consider expanding mutual investment as an important issue; digitalization is very important for achieving further economic growth in Asia.

"It is expected that this meeting will be a turning point for the comprehensive restoration and normalization of the trilateral cooperation system." Kim Tae-hyo, the first director of South Korea's National Security Office, said.

However, issues in the security field are regarded by the outside world as a point of disagreement in China-Japan-ROK cooperation. In recent years, in order to seek strategic self-interest, some major powers outside the region have forcibly injected elements of strategic competition into the political narrative of Northeast Asia, instigating division and confrontation, and impacting bilateral and trilateral relations between China, Japan and South Korea and regional peace.

"The three countries should face the future." Lee Hee-seop, secretary-general of the China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, pointed out that although South Korea and Japan are allies of the United States, cooperation with China is still of great significance. "

"This meeting will become a good platform and play a positive role in easing tensions between China and the United States." Park Cheol-hee, president of the National Diplomatic Academy of South Korea, pointed out on the 24th that strategic communication between the leaders of the three countries may create a way to ease the confrontation between the camps in the region. opportunity.