On September 26, the China-Japan-ROK senior officials' Meeting was held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea.
The three sides agreed to hold a foreign ministers' meeting in the coming months and maintain communication on holding a leaders' meeting at an early date convenient to all three countries. # Exclusive disclosure of three details of the China-Japan-ROK Senior Officials' meeting #
Detail 1: Paving the way for a high-level meeting
The last trilateral summit meeting was held four years ago, and it is not easy for the meeting to resume after four years of twists and turns.
In fact, over the past month, netizens' attention to China, Japan and South Korea has had several spikes. Leaders and foreign ministers of the three countries have repeatedly expressed the need to promote trilateral cooperation, especially the resumption of the trilateral leaders' meeting, which has not been held for four years.
The recent frequent bilateral interactions between China, Japan and the ROK are sending positive signals.
In the past six months:
| | China and the ROK held the first ministerial-level or above talks this year.
| | The Japanese Foreign minister has completed his first visit to China in more than three years.
| | A Korean president is visiting Japan for the first time in 12 years.
Judging from the list of outcomes of the previous trilateral summit meetings, economic cooperation has always been the main line of the trilateral cooperation mechanism.
The economic scale of China, Japan and the ROK accounts for 90 percent of East Asia and 70 percent of Asia, exceeding that of the eurozone and comparable to that of the North American Free Trade Area.
The "China-Japan-ROK +X" cooperation model proposed at the last trilateral summit held in Chengdu in 2019 has yielded concrete cooperation results with Mongolia and ASEAN countries in green, low-carbon, sand prevention and disaster reduction. Four years after the suspension of the China-Japan-ROK summit, the "China-Japan-ROK +X" cooperation model is still working.
As the Chinese Foreign minister said, China-Japan-ROK cooperation has grown into the most influential sub-regional cooperation mechanism in Asia.
Detail 2: The three parties discussed strengthening practical cooperation
At the senior officials' meeting, the three countries discussed strengthening practical cooperation in such fields as culture, economy and trade, scientific and technological innovation, sustainable development and public health.
Liu Junhong, who is familiar with the East Asian economy, pointed out that there are now three economic circles in the world with production and sales, the eurozone with Germany as the center of gravity, the North America with the United States as the center of gravity and the Asia-Pacific with China as the center of gravity. The three countries need each other, and for South Korea and Japan, the US market alone cannot solve their problems.
But the bigger problem is that South Korea and Japan cannot depend on the US for their longer-term development.
In the list of new energy vehicles that the United States announced subsidies, Korean cars were completely wiped out, and not a single one made the list. Japanese brands of new energy vehicles are also not included in the list.
Obviously, in the competitive field of industrial upgrading, South Korea and Japan are also the targets of the United States.
In February last year, the RCEP came into effect for all three countries. Under the RCEP framework, China, Japan and the ROK have carried out cooperation in machinery manufacturing, automobile manufacturing and optoelectronic equipment manufacturing.
Such cooperation is an urgent need for the industrial upgrading of South Korea and Japan.
Take new energy vehicles. China, Japan and South Korea have cooperated in the research and development of hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor has set up a $100 million hydrogen energy industry fund with Tsinghua Industrial Development Research Institute, and Hyundai's first overseas hydrogen fuel cell system research and development, production and sales base is also selected in China.
A Western think tank surveyed 44 advanced technology fields this year and found that Korea ranked in the top three in only six.
In the new round of scientific and technological revolution, South Korea and Japan must integrate into the production and consumption circles of the Asia-Pacific if they want to create new technological heights.
Detail 3: It focuses on regional peace, stability and prosperity
The senior officials' meeting also mentioned a sentence: China, Japan and the ROK agreed that they should make new contributions to regional peace, stability and prosperity.
The background of this statement is that some countries are always eager to see peace in the region.
In August, under the auspices of the United States, the United States, Japan and South Korea held their first trilateral summit. At the summit, the United States, South Korea and South Korea agreed on new military cooperation and singled out China in discussions on Asia-Pacific security issues.
It is obviously not in the fundamental interests of South Korea and Japan to cooperate with the United States to introduce war into the Asia-Pacific region.
Yang Danzhi, an expert on peripheral security issues, pointed out that China, Japan and the ROK have traditional ties in history and close economic and other cooperation in reality, and the two countries will also think from the perspective of regional stability and prosperity.
The question is, why now?
Since the beginning of this year, regional cooperation around the world has reached a new stage.
From the Shai reconciliation to Syria's return to the Arab League, the Middle East has achieved unprecedented unity. At this year's Arab League summit, the participating countries all spoke of regional peace, stability, development and prosperity. From the return of Brazil, Latin America's largest country, to CELAC, to the collective rejection of outside interference, the region is kicking the Monroe Doctrine out of its home.
The dominant power in each region should be the regional countries themselves. The changes in China, Japan and the ROK are obviously echoing this wave.
From North America and Europe to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the various regions of the world are shifting from decentralization to regional connectivity.
The new developments in China, Japan and the ROK also herald new opportunities for East Asia.
