Reuters-South Korea hosts Japan China as US allies try to reassure Beijing
September 25, 2023 2 min 417 words
这篇报道描述了南韩举行的一次罕见的中日韩三方外交会议，旨在缓解中国对南韩和日本加强合作的担忧，尤其是它们与美国之间的合作。这次会议的目的之一是为三国领导人之间的三方峰会复苏创造条件，上一次这样的峰会是在2019年举行的。这些谈判在南韩和日本之间的法律、外交和贸易争端中断，这些争端涉及到日本在1910年至1945年占领韩国的问题。 南韩总统尹锡悦和日本首相岸田文雄已经采取了措施来修复两国关系，并在今年8月与美国总统乔·拜登举行了历史性的三方峰会，三国承诺加强合作，包括在国防和经济安全领域。 文章中提到，自2017年南韩部署美国“萨德”反导系统以来，中国一直积极寻求三边合作和安排会议，因此有观点认为中国对于南韩与美国和日本之间日益紧密的三边安全合作存在一些不适。这次会议可能被中国用来平衡美国的友好政策，促进民间交流，并加强与首尔和东京在安全和国防事务上的沟通和对话。 文章还提到，日本和南韩有兴趣避免冲突，并与中国保持稳定的安全关系，中国在减缓甚至停止朝鲜的广泛核发展计划方面提供了帮助。这些共同利益为战略沟通、增强信任和防止危机采取了新的途径。 总的来说，这次会议对于东亚地区的地缘政治和安全局势具有重要意义。南韩、日本和中国三方之间的外交互动将有助于缓解紧张局势，促进合作，为未来的合作和稳定关系打下基础。
South Korea on Tuesday will host senior diplomats from China and Japan for a rare trilateral meeting seen as aimed at assuaging Beijing's concerns over the two U.S. allies' tightening cooperation between themselves and Washington.
The meeting aims in part to set the stage for the resumption of three-way summits between the countries' leaders, which were last held in 2019. Those talks were suspended amid legal, diplomatic, and trade disputes between Seoul and Tokyo over issues dating to Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have since taken steps to mend ties and in August held a historic trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, where the three vowed to boost cooperation, including on defence and economic security.
A senior South Korean government official said China has been proactive in seeking trilateral cooperation and arranging meetings since relations soured between Seoul and Beijing in 2017 over the deployment of a U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea.
"I’m sure there should be some discomfort on their side regarding our increasingly close trilateral security partnerships with the United States and Japan," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. "There seems to be a view there that they need to properly manage bilateral ties with us, as they saw how their THAAD responses backfired and fuelled anti-China sentiment to serious levels."
Beijing will most likely look to leverage trilateral trade cooperation to counterbalance the U.S. friend-shoring strategy, promote people-to-people exchanges, and enhance communication and dialogue with Seoul and Tokyo on security and defence matters, said Tong Zhao, senior fellow at the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Japan and South Korea have an interest in avoiding conflicts and maintaining a stable security relationship with China, and Beijing's assistance in slowing down, if not halting, North Korea's extensive nuclear development program, he added.
"These shared interests open up new avenues for strategic communication, confidence-building, and measures to prevent crises," Zhao said.
Tuesday's meeting involve South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, and Nong Rong, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a briefing on Monday that China, Japan and South Korea are close neighbours and important cooperative partners, and strengthening trilateral cooperation serves their common interests.
The trilateral summits have traditionally involved China's prime minister, but South Korea is also pushing for a separate visit by President Xi Jinping.