What China, South Korea and Japan agreed on at their first summit since the pandemic

On May 26–27, trilateral and bilateral talks were held in Seoul between Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The summit was held for the first time after a break of four and a half years - the previous one took place in December 2019, shortly before the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic . Previously, negotiations in a similar format, established in 2008, were held annually.

The first at the summit was a bilateral meeting between Li Qiang and Yoon and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. According to Xinhua, the Chinese prime minister called on Seoul to strengthen cooperation in the fields of high technology, “new energy”, artificial intelligence, biomedicine and other areas. “Maintaining stable and uninterrupted production and supply chains in both countries serves their own interests. For example, in the semiconductor sector, despite pressure from the United States, Chinese production chains continue to benefit South Korean companies, including Samsung,” the Chinese government agency said.

As a result, Seoul and Beijing agreed to create new and resume existing channels of communication between diplomats and military personnel on issues of internal and external security, including the so-called one-and-a-half track (between current government officials and the expert community, including former diplomats) and negotiations on strategic security at the level of deputy foreign ministers. In addition, China and South Korea will restart the joint investment cooperation committee, which was suspended in 2011, and have scheduled a working meeting on a free trade agreement for early June.

On the same day, Yun held a separate meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan, at which the course for further military-diplomatic and economic cooperation between the two countries was fixed. The South Korean president expressed hope that the two leaders' joint work would take bilateral ties "to an even higher level" ahead of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year.

Also on May 26, bilateral talks were held between Lee and Kishida for the first time since the latter took office as prime minister (they only held a short 15-minute conversation in September 2023). The Japanese leader has called on Beijing to lift a ban on Japanese seafood imports imposed last year over the release of treated water from the collapsed Fukushima nuclear power plant. In response, Lee proposed establishing an international system to monitor discharged water, according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

Kishida also warned that Tokyo is closely monitoring developments in the situation around Taiwan, including in the military sphere. Last week, after the inauguration of Taiwan's new president, Lai Qingde, whom Chinese authorities accused of dangerous separatism and called a "war maker," the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted large-scale exercises in the Taiwan Strait. According to a statement from China's Foreign Ministry, Lee told Kishida that Taiwan was at the "core" of Beijing's interests and called the issue a red line that should not be crossed.

The next day, May 27, trilateral negotiations took place. At them, Li Qiang warned against “transforming trade and economic issues into political games or security issues” and protectionism, Xinhua reports. At the beginning of the meeting, the Chinese prime minister also condemned the “formation of blocs and camps,” apparently referring to US actions in the Asia-Pacific region, but did not openly criticize Washington. Instead, he called on Japan and South Korea, which participate in regional politico-military structures under U.S. auspices, to “uphold the spirit of strategic autonomy and maintain our bilateral relations.” “China, Japan and South Korea should properly handle sensitive issues and differences and take into account each other's core interests and concerns. And really build true multilateralism,” Lee said.

As a result of the negotiations, the parties adopted a joint declaration, in which they agreed to create and implement mutually beneficial projects in six areas:

• humanitarian exchanges (the goal is to involve 40 million people in such exchanges, including through tourism, by 2030);
• sustainable development, including combating climate change;
• economic cooperation and trade (including through accelerating negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement);
• public HEALTH, including in the context of an aging population;
• scientific and technical cooperation, including digital transformation;
• disaster relief and security.

Representatives of China, South Korea and Japan also agreed to hold subsequent meetings in a trilateral format without long breaks and to declare next year a year of cultural exchanges between the three countries. In addition, they discussed the regional agenda, including the situation around North Korea, whose authorities, a few hours before the summit, announced plans to launch a new reconnaissance satellite early next week. Yun and Kishida demanded that Pyongyang abandon the launch, which contradicts UN Security Council resolutions. Lee called on “all parties to play a constructive role and remain committed to easing tensions.” The joint communiqué said Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo reaffirmed their positions on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and agreed to "continue to make positive efforts for a political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue."

Since 2008 in general and over the past four and a half years in particular, relations between the three countries and the system of international relations have undergone significant changes. Seoul and Tokyo, whose relationship has long been burdened by the difficult legacy of World War II, have grown significantly closer in the past two years, largely at the instigation of the United States.

In March 2023, the South Korean government decided to pay compensation to workers forced to labor in Japanese factories during the country's 1910-1945 occupation from local companies rather than from Tokyo, paving the way for a resolution to the decades-long dispute. That same month, Yun Seok-yeol paid a visit to Japan, and in May, Kishida visited Seoul.

In August 2023, a trilateral summit was held at the US Presidential residence Camp David, at which a military-political security pact was signed, aimed not only at containing North Korea, but also at ensuring the strategic interests of partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region, then there is also containment of China.

The system of power in China has also changed over the years. Previously, powers were divided between the Chairman of the People's Republic of China and the Prime Minister, and therefore the HEAD of government, who was in charge of issues of trade and economic cooperation, fully represented Beijing in negotiations with Seoul and Tokyo. Now, almost all power is concentrated in the hands of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and therefore the other two participants in the format may demand that in the future he represents Beijing in negotiations, according to experts interviewed by The Associated Press.

Japan and South Korea, despite their concerns about China's actions in the region and its focus on rapprochement with the United States, are interested in normalizing relations with China, since it is their leading trading partner. As The New York Times notes, China, in turn, hopes to at least slightly reduce US influence on these two countries through a trilateral free trade agreement and providing Japanese and South Korean companies with wider access to its market.

At the same time, American analysts interviewed by the Washington Post do not consider the resumption of the trilateral format a cause for alarm on the part of the United States. “But this should show those pushing the anti-China line that our allies have their own interests and they do not always coincide with ours,” said Stanford University expert Daniel Snyder.