China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit

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China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit
See caption
Map of East Asia indicating China (red), Taiwan (pink), Japan (green), South Korea (blue), and North Korea (light blue)

Member states and key leaders:

 ChinaPresident Xi Jinping[a]
Premier Li Qiang
 JapanPrime Minister Fumio Kishida
 South KoreaPresident Yoon Suk-yeol
ParticipantsChina, Japan, South Korea
Founded2008
China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese中日韩领导人会议
Traditional Chinese中日韓領導人會議
South Korean name
Hangul한중일 정상회의
Hanja韓中日頂上會議
Japanese name
Kanji日中韓首脳会議
Kanaにっちゅうかんしゅのうかいぎ

The China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit is an annual summit meeting attended by the People's Republic of China, Japan and South Korea, three major countries in East Asia and the world's second, fourth and 12th largest economies. The first summit was held during December 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan.[1] The talks are focused on maintaining strong trilateral relations,[2] the regional economy[3][4] and disaster relief.[5]

The summits were first proposed by South Korea in 2004, as a meeting outside the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three, with the three major economies of East Asia having a separate community forum. In November 2007 during the ASEAN Plus Three meeting, the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea held their eighth meeting, and decided to strengthen political dialogue and consultations between the three countries, eventually deciding on an ad hoc meeting to be held in 2008.

In September 2011, the three countries launched the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in Seoul. The Secretary-General is appointed on a two-year rotational basis in the order of Korea, Japan, and China. Each country other than the one of the Secretary-General nominates a Deputy Secretary-General respectively.

Summits[edit]

Leader summits[edit]

Summit Host Country Participants Host City Date
 China Premier  Japan Prime Minister  South Korea President
1st  Japan Wen Jiabao Tarō Asō Lee Myung-bak Dazaifu 13 December 2008
2nd  China Wen Jiabao Yukio Hatoyama Lee Myung-bak Beijing 10 October 2009
3rd  South Korea Wen Jiabao Yukio Hatoyama Lee Myung-bak Jeju 29 May 2010
4th  Japan Wen Jiabao Naoto Kan Lee Myung-bak Fukushima & Tokyo 21–22 May 2011
5th  China Wen Jiabao Yoshihiko Noda Lee Myung-bak Beijing 13–14 May 2012
6th  South Korea Li Keqiang Shinzō Abe Park Geun-hye Seoul 1 November 2015
7th  Japan Li Keqiang Shinzō Abe Moon Jae-in Tokyo 9 May 2018
8th  China Li Keqiang Shinzō Abe Moon Jae-in Chengdu 23–25 December 2019
9th  South Korea Li Qiang Fumio Kishida Yoon Suk-yeol Seoul 26–27 May 2024

Foreign Ministers' Meetings[edit]

Summit Host Country Participants Host City Date
 China  Japan  South Korea
1st  South Korea Yang Jiechi Tarō Asō Song Min-soon Jeju 3 June 2007
2nd  Japan Yang Jiechi Masahiko Kōmura Yu Myung-hwan Tokyo 14 June 2008
3rd  China Yang Jiechi Katsuya Okada Yu Myung-hwan Shanghai 28 September 2009
4th  South Korea Yang Jiechi Katsuya Okada Yu Myung-hwan Gyeongju 15 May 2010
5th  Japan Yang Jiechi Takeaki Matsumoto Kim Sung-hwan Kyoto 19 March 2011
6th  China Yang Jiechi Kōichirō Genba Kim Sung-hwan Ningbo 8 April 2012
7th  South Korea Wang Yi Fumio Kishida Yun Byung-se Seoul 21 March 2015
8th  Japan Wang Yi Fumio Kishida Yun Byung-se Kurashiki 24 August 2016
9th  China Wang Yi Tarō Kōno Kang Kyung-wha Beijing 21 August 2019
 South Korea Wang Yi Toshimitsu Motegi Kang Kyung-wha (virtual) 20 March 2020
10th  South Korea Wang Yi Yōko Kamikawa Park Jin Busan 26 November 2023

Meetings[edit]

Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council of the People's Republic of China shaking hands at a meeting on November 5, 2001

Such a meeting was first proposed by the Republic of Korea in 2004 (another viewpoint that it should have begun in November 1999, when Zhu Rongji, the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Keizo Obuchi, the Prime Minister of Japan, and Kim Dae-jung, the President of the Republic of Korea, held their first trilateral Leaders' Breakfast in the Philippines on the margins of the ASEAN-China Association (AEAN) meeting, thus setting the precedent for the trilateral Leaders to meet within the ASEAN (10+3) framework).[6]

In November 2007, when the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea held their eighth meeting within the framework of ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea (10+3), they decided to strengthen political dialog and consultation among the three countries and to hold occasional meetings among the leaders of the three countries, and at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries held in June 2008 in Tokyo, but due to the sudden resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the meeting was postponed to December 13, 2008.[7]

1st trilateral summit (2008)[edit]

Premier Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister Taro Aso, and President Lee Myung-bak attends joint conference of PRC-Japan-ROK summit in 2008

The first separate meeting of the leaders of the three countries was held in Fukuoka, Japan. During the meeting, the "Joint Statement between the three partners" was signed and issued, which identified the direction and principles behind cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea. The conference adopted the "International Financial and Economic Issues Joint Statement", "Disaster Management of the Three Countries Joint Statement" and "Action plan to promote cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea".[8]

Trilateral relations[edit]

One of the topics discussed focused on the improvement of future relations between the three countries, from strategic and long-term perspectives. Prior talks between the three countries have been hindered specifically by various territorial and historical disputes.[9] Chinese premier Wen Jiabao stated that "China is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to continue to develop the strategic and mutually beneficial ties in a healthy and stable manner, to benefit the peoples of the two countries and other nations in the region as well."[2] Japanese prime minister Tarō Asō also expressed that he believed the best manner in dealing with the economic crisis of 2008 was economic partnership.[10] There is also speculation of a future regional Free trade area. Such co-operation would greatly benefit the three nations, which account for two thirds of total trade,[11] 40% of total population and three quarters[citation needed] of the GDP of Asia (20% of global GDP[12]), during the ongoing economic crisis.[13]

2nd trilateral summit (2009)[edit]

On October 10, 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak attended the second China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting.

The second summit was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Despite the worries of limitations that the summit has faced in 2008, this all changed in 2009, when Japan, China and Korea were forced to coordinate and cooperate more closely to manage the regional effects of the global financial crisis.

In their joint statement on the crisis, the trio identified the need to cooperate on global issues (such as financial risk) and in global institutions, including at the G20. While a reaction to global events, this cooperation began to significantly affect the management of East Asia. Over the course of 2009, the three nations resolved their long running dispute over contributions (and thus voting weight) in the Chiang Mai Initiatives, the first major 'success' of the ASEAN Plus Three process. The three nations also worked together to push through a general capital increase at the Asian Development Bank to help it fight the effects of the global financial crisis, a decision mandated by the G20 but about which the US appeared ambivalent.[14]

3rd trilateral summit (2010)[edit]

The third summit in 2010

The third summit among these three countries was held in Jeju, Korea. The prime minister of Korea, Lee Myung bak hosted the meeting and China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, Japan's prime minister Yukio Hatoyama attended the meeting. One document called the 2020 Cooperation Prospect was released, which firstly emphasized that the three countries will face up to history and cooperate for the future development. Also, looking forward to the specific goals that should be achieved in the next ten years, this document stressed the importance to concentrate on the cooperation in different fields.

In the progress of institutionalizations and improvements of the partnership, the leaders decided to enhance the communication and strategic mutual trust. The leaders agreed to establish a secretariat in Korea in 2011 to confront the natural disaster, discuss the possibility to build up the 'defense dialogue mechanism', improve the policing cooperation and boost the communication among the government. In terms of sustainable development and common prosperity, the leaders said they would try to complete the survey of the Trilateral Free Trade Area before 2012; improve the trade volume; enhance trade facilitation and they restated that they would attach great importance to the customs cooperation; make efforts to the negotiation about investment agreement and offer necessary infrastructure for the improvement of the free flow of investment capital; enhance the coordination of the financial departments; improve the effectiveness of the multilateral Chiang mai initiate; reject all forms of trade protectionism; improve the cooperation in science and innovation; and strengthen the cooperation and consultation policies in the fields of industry, energy, the energy efficiency and resource.

4th trilateral summit (2011)[edit]

On May 22, 2011, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak attend the China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting.
See also: China–Japan–South Korea Free Trade Agreement

Because the previous three summit meetings covered a wide range of world issues, they did not produce any concrete outcome. There was no agreement on North Korea's nuclear development or on the March and September 2010 incidents involving North Korea. Moreover, although the leaders of the three countries had agreed to set up a permanent secretariat headquartered in Seoul to facilitate trilateral cooperation, it has still not been implemented. The three leaders had also agreed to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, expand cooperation in trade, investment, finance, and environmental protection.

The fourth meeting was held in the wake of the nuclear accident at Fukushima and the natural disaster in Japan. Prime Minister Kan Naoto proposed to hold the summit in Fukushima to convey the message to the world that Fukushima has already become a safe place. The Japanese government hoped that if the heads of the three countries gather in the crisis-stricken city, radiation fears will be mitigated. However, due to logistic problems, the meeting could not be held in Fukushima and instead was held in Tokyo.

While Japan was accused of not providing its neighbours with accurate information when radioactive materials leaked at Fukushima, the summit led to agreement to establish an emergency notification system, enhance cooperation among experts, and share information in the event of emergencies.[15]

5th trilateral summit (2012)[edit]

On May 13, 2012, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak attend the 5th China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting.

14 May 2012, Leaders from China, Japan, and South Korea concluded the Fifth Trilateral Summit Meeting and signed the Trilateral Agreement for the Promotion, Facilitation and Protection of Investment (hereinafter referred as the Trilateral Agreement) at a summit in Beijing. The Trilateral Agreement represents a stepping stone towards a three-way free trade pact to counter global economic turbulence and to boost economic growth in Asia.

According to a joint declaration, the three nations will further enhance the “future-oriented comprehensive cooperative partnership” to unleash vitality into the economic growth of the three countries, accelerate economic integration in East Asia, and facilitate economic recovery and growth in the world.

In the joint declaration, the three nations list directions and prioritization of future cooperation, which includes enhancing mutual political trust, deepening economic and trade cooperation, promoting sustainable development, expanding social, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and strengthening communication and coordination in regional and international affairs.

Among all these proposals, the signing of the Trilateral Agreement and the decision to endorse the recommendation from the trade ministers to launch the trilateral FTA negotiations within this year are at the top of the priority list in deepening economic and trade cooperation.[16]

6th trilateral summit (2015)[edit]

On November 1, 2015, the 6th China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting was held in Seoul, South Korea

The 6th trilateral summit was held on 1 November 2015 in Seoul, resuming the summit since 2012 due to varieties of disputes and issues ranging from World War II apologies to territorial disputes among the three nations. During the summit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye agreed to meet annually in order to work towards deepening trade relations with the proposed trilateral free trade agreement.[17] They also agreed to pursue the six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.[18]

Since 2016, relations between the People's Republic of China and South Korea have deteriorated over the deployment of the South Korean anti-missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. In the same year, South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached and suspended from office over the Choi Soon-sil scandal. As a result, the China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting, which was originally scheduled to be held in early December 2016 in Japan, had to be postponed. The meeting was originally planned to be postponed to 2017 and still be held in Japan, but relations between China and South Korea have deteriorated sharply due to the continued festering of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense affair. Japan's failure to satisfy the People's Republic of China on the history issue and other issues kept the meeting on the back burner, and the leaders of the three countries did not meet in 2016 or 2017.[19]

7th trilateral summit (2018)[edit]

On May 9, 2018, the 7th trilateral summit was held
See also: Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China

The 7th trilateral summit was held on 9 May 2018 in Tokyo, resuming the summit since 2015.[20] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the meeting. During his visit to Japan, Li will also attend the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China and the "Sino-Japanese Governors' Forum".[21]

8th trilateral summit (2019)[edit]

the 8th trilateral summit held in Chengdu, Sichuan, China

On the morning of December 24, 2019, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the 8th China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, exchanging views on China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, as well as on regional and international issues. In the afternoon of December 24, Li Keqiang, along with Moon and Abe, attended the Dufu Caotang Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to mark the China-Japan-South Korea Cooperation. On December 25, Li and Abe held talks at Mount Qingcheng before visiting the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. At the meeting, the "Outlook for the Next Ten Years of China-Japan-ROK Cooperation" and other outcome documents were also released.[22][23]

The leaders of the three countries did not meet from 2020 to 2023 due to the judgment of the Supreme Court of Korea against Japanese companies for compensation in the case of former expelled laborers, while the Japanese government strongly opposed it, and the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.[24]

9th trilateral summit (2024)[edit]

the 9th trilateral summit

On May 26-27, 2024, the 9th China-Japan-ROK Leaders' Meeting was held in Seoul, South Korea. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the meeting. The three leaders' meeting was the first trilateral talks in more than four years. It comes at a time when South Korea and Japan have been trying to repair ties damaged by historical disputes while deepening their trilateral security partnership with the United States amid heightened Sino-U.S. rivalry.[25] Li Qiang agreed with Yoon Suk Yeol to launch a diplomatic and security dialogue and resume free trade talks, while China and Japan agreed to hold a new round of bilateral high-level economic dialogue at an appropriate time.[26]

TCS Secretary-Generals[edit]

The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) is an international organization established with a vision to promote peace and common prosperity among China, Japan, and South Korea.

List of TCS Secretary-Generals:

  • Shin Bong-kil South Korea (1 September 2011 - 31 August 2013)
    • Rui Matsukawa Japan & Mao Ning China (Deputies)
  • Shigeo Iwatani Japan (1 September 2013 - 31 August 2015)
  • Yang Houlan China (1 September 2015 – 31 August 2017)
    • Lee Jong-heon South Korea & Akima Umezawa Japan (Deputies)
  • Lee Jong-heon South Korea(1 September 2017 – 31 August 2019)
    • Yamamoto Yasushi Japan & Han Mei China (Deputies)
  • Hisashi Michigami Japan(1 September 2019 – 31 August 2021)
    • Jing Cao China & Kang Do-ho South Korea (Deputies)
  • Ou Boqian China(1 September 2021 – present)
    • Bek Bum-hym South Korea & Sakata Natsuko Japan (Deputies)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The de jure head of government of China is the Premier, whose current holder is Li Qiang. The President of China is legally a ceremonial office, but the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (de facto leader) has always held this office since 1993 except for the months of transition, and the current paramount leader is Xi Jinping.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chinese, Japanese PMs meet for boosting bilateral ties
  2. ^ a b Chinese, Japanese PMs meet, pledge to boost bilateral ties
  3. ^ China expects positive result at upcoming meeting with ROK, Japan Archived 11 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ CCTV-9 English News, broadcast 13 December 2008
  5. ^ China, Japan, S Korea to promote co-op on disaster management Archived 11 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ 中国周边安全环境透视 (in Chinese). 中国青年出版社. 2003. p. 282. ISBN 978-7-5006-5224-3. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  7. ^ 當代日本外交 (in Chinese). 五南. 2016. p. 73. ISBN 978-957-11-8317-6. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  8. ^ 等许利平 (2016). 中国与周边命运共同体：构建与路径. 国际领域重要理论与现实问题研究丛书 (in Chinese). 社會科學文獻出版社當代世界出版分社. p. 74. ISBN 978-7-5097-8553-9. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  9. ^ Japan, South Korea, China: trilateral ties, tensions - Yahoo! Malaysia
  10. ^ China, Japan, S Korea agree to enhance systematic co-op Archived 12 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Regional summit to tackle crisis - Chinadaily
  12. ^ ASEAN-China Relations Archived 4 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ SBS World News Australia, 14 December 2008
  14. ^ Joel Rathus (15 June 2010). "China-Japan-Korea trilateral cooperation and the East Asian Community". EAST ASIA FORUM. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  15. ^ Rajaram Panda and Pranamita Baruah. "Japan-China-South Korea Trilateral Summit Meet Holds Promise". Institute for defence studies and analysis. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  16. ^ Xiaolei Gu (14 May 2012). "China-Japan-South Korea Sign Trilateral Agreement and Launch FTA Talks". CHINA BRIEFING. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  17. ^ Choe Sang-hun (1 November 2015). "China, Japan and South Korea Pledge to Expand Trade at Joint Meeting". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  18. ^ Song Jung-a (1 November 2015). "S Korea, Japan and China agree to push for N Korea nuclear talks". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  19. ^ 中国周边外交发展报告（2016） (in Chinese). 社会科学文献出版社. 2017. p. 250. ISBN 978-7-5201-1724-1. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  20. ^ Tomohiro Osaki. Japan, China and South Korea are 'in sync' on North Korea, Japanese official says. Japan Times, 9 May 2018
  21. ^ 中国-东北亚国家年鉴（2019） (in Chinese). 社会科学文献出版社·群学出版分社. 2022. p. 552. ISBN 978-7-5201-9594-2. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  22. ^ "韩中日领导人纪念三国合作20周年". 韩联社（韩国联合通讯社） (in Chinese). 24 December 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  23. ^ "中日韩合作未来十年展望（全文）-新华网". 新华网_让新闻离你更近 (in Chinese). 24 December 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  24. ^ "中、日、韓週一啟動2019年以來首次三方領導人會晤". Yahoo Finance (in Chinese). 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  25. ^ "中日韩领导人在中日三边会谈前会面". Al Jazeera (in Chinese). 26 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  26. ^ Hyonhee Shin; Katya Golubkova; Eduardo Baptista (26 May 2024). "China talks security, business with U.S.-allied South Korea, Japan". Reuters.

External links[edit]

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