Leaders of Asia’s top three economic powers at a meeting in Seoul last Sunday (November 01) agreed to work together for greater regional economic integration in an attempt to ease tensions stemming from Japan’s wartime past. It was the resumption of trilateral summit after over a three-year hiatus and observers think it may become a turning point in Northeast Asia’s political climate. Three Asian leaders – South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – have also agreed to resume their annual meetings which had been suspended since 2012 amid disagreements over history and territory. Japan will host the China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit next year. Commentators tend to give credit to Japan’s Prime Minister Abe for this diplomatic breakthrough. Abe has been taking the initiative for some time this year to mend the fast deteriorating ties between Japan in one hand and China and South Korea, on the other, because of their wartime disputes. The dispute that overwhelmed the three countries was Tokyo’s repeated refusal to properly atone wartime atrocities. The problem was particularly galling for Seoul over “comfort women”, the mostly Korean (both south and north) women who were forced into prostitution at Japanese military brothels during the Second World War. Abe’s refusal to seek proper apology at the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II this year aggravated the situation further. A report quoted by the Global Times of China says while meeting Abe, Chinese Premier Li, stressing that history concerns the political foundation of the Sino-Japanese relationship, said the issue “is also one of the key points of Seoul-Tokyo ties and for the smooth promotion of Northeast Asian cooperation, and (it is an) indispensable condition that Japan must not regress on the history issue”. Li, however, reportedly credited President Park for her role in restoring the trilateral forum. Noted Japan expert Yang Bojiang pointed out that Sunday’s summit tends to indicate that the leaders have managed to get out of the situation dominated by negative topics. The meeting ended with a weighty outcome and came out with a joint statement which noted that the countries in Northeast Asia are economically interdependent but “faced with conflicts in political and security fields and this must be dealt with.” The trilateral agreement after a three-year hiatus in the backdrop of a sluggish global economy and the increasingly complicated East Asian situation has attracted broad attention from international society. In recent years, interactions between Beijing and Seoul have become increasingly frequent and both sides have agreed to promote bilateral strategic cooperative partnership. Besides, it also reflected a thaw in Sino-Japanese ties. A Reuter news agency report from Seoul, quoting South Korean President Park, said that she agreed with Abe and Li to work towards the conclusion of a 16-nation free trade areas as well as a separate three-way free trade deal that has been on the table since 2013. She told a joint press conference with Li and Abe: “We agreed to work together for the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)… We agreed to expand economic and social cooperation among the three countries to create new growth momentum.” It should be pointed out that China, Japan and South Korea are major economies as well as major powers in Asia and the total population and GDP (gross domestic product) of the three countries combined account for 70 per cent and 90 per cent respectively of that of Northeast Asia. The three nations also account for one-fifth of the global aggregate economy. The proposed enhancing economic and trade cooperation among the three will promote the establishment of the China-Japan-South Korea free trade zone, and will play a significant role in East Asian integration and also global economic cooperation and development. Discussing the overall situation, Professor Wang Xiaobo of the College of Political Science and Public Management, Yanbian University said: “The structural contradictions between China and the US, and the alliance among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have become a major external factor that is restricting the trilateral ties among China, Japan and South Korea. The three countries should therefore not only consider their own national interests, but also respect others’ interests and appeal. Only by then, a new journey of the trilateral relationship would begin, and that is exactly what the international society is looking forward to.” He added: “It will also help realise the connection between the Beijing-raised ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative and Seoul’s Eurasian Initiative.” Interestingly, Northeast Asian cooperation has historically been influenced by the US. An ally of Japan and South Korea, Washington has played, in particular, a critical and latent role in Japan’s foreign relations. Analysts, however, think that its role has not been decisive in regional relations. China’s relations with South Korea are stable and promising while the South Korea-Japan relationship is as bumpy as that of China and Japan. In a way, they feel that Washington’s clout has to be faced squarely, but there should be no exaggeration. In the overall geopolitical context, political and psychological factors always influence bilateral ties. The trilateral summit was initiated in 2008 when Japan was Asia’s No.1 (and the world’s No. 2) economy and it actively promoted China-Japan-South Korea free trade zone. Then China consolidated its position replacing Japan as Asia’s No 1 economy, enabling it to become a guiding factor of Northeast Asia’s internal economic structure. Beijing and Seoul have subsequently signed a bilateral free trade deal while Tokyo’s attitude subtly changed. Lack of mutual political trust and historical disputes were perhaps major influencing factor. China has been a key promoter of RCEP and was initiated four years ago – a grouping of 16 countries, apart from the top three Asian economies, also included India and 10 states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – and when finalised, it would create the world’s biggest free trade bloc of 3.4 billion people. A negotiating meeting of the group was held last month in Busan, South Korea to discuss market opening and tariff reductions on goods and services. However, it is still in its nascent stage. There is of course the Korean Peninsula issue which is considered as the biggest unstable factor in Northeast Asia. Maintaining peace and stability in the region serves the interests of all. The North Korean nuclear issue and Pyongyang’s unpredictable sabre rattling at regular intervals has to be settled under the framework of six-party talks. As members of this group, China, Japan and South Korea should make more efforts to restart the talks as soon as possible. However, analysts believe that the successes or achievements of last Sunday’s historic trilateral summit will largely depend of Japan’s attitude. But considering Abe’s late but apparent realisation of his own fault and the initiative to make it up with Seoul and Beijing, he is unlikely to digress from the moot point. If and when that happens allowing the three to work together, the group would surely become ballast of the regional economy and the driving force of Asian cooperation.
