The top diplomats from Japan, China and South Korea held talks in Tokyo on Saturday. Given that they took place at such a sensitive time — US-China tensions are high, the Ukraine war is ongoing and US President Donald Trump continues to pressure Washington’s traditional allies — the meeting attracted international attention.
At the start of the meeting, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said: “Given the increasingly severe international situation, I believe we may truly be at a turning point in history.”
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the conclusion of World War II, urging the three countries to revisit the consensus of respecting history and looking to the future.
South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul said that maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula is in the common interest of all three countries.
However, there are still many deeply rooted conflicts between the three nations and many issues have not yet been resolved.
First, Chinese naval vessels frequently intrude into the waters surrounding Japan’s Senkaku Islands, known in Taiwan as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). China has also failed to deliver on its repeated promises to lift its ban on Japanese seafood imports and has detained Japanese citizens without cause. These actions have created difficulties and unresolved tensions between the two countries.
Second, ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol — who has typically taken a pro-Japan stance — is in a slew of legal trouble. This coupled with a dispute over the sovereignty of islands called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean has cast a shadow over the unity between Tokyo and Seoul.
Third, there is a dispute between China and South Korea over exclusive economic zones in the Yellow Sea. Additionally, China is encroaching upon South Korea’s industries, leading the business community to decouple itself from China. While relations between the two countries appear friendly, there are many issues below the surface.
Japan, China and South Korea each have their own unique concerns and each side pursued its own agenda at the meeting.
In the wake of an economic downturn and Trump’s strategy of allying with Moscow and resisting Beijing, China finds itself facing domestic and international pressure.
Meanwhile, the US, Japan and South Korea have occasional disputes under the shadow of Trump’s increased tariffs — which presents a heaven-sent opportunity for China to exploit divisions between them, hence why it has frequently reached out to Japan and South Korea.
For South Korea, due to Yoon’s impeachment and ongoing civil unrest — along with recently being listed as a “sensitive” country by the US Department of Energy due to visitors from the country mishandling sensitive information in US laboratories — the absence of solid leadership has made it increasingly difficult to reach any diplomatic breakthroughs.
According to an opinion poll published by the Asahi Shimbun on March 16, the approval rating of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet has dropped to a dangerous 26 percent, setting a new low since he took office last year.
Recently, Ishiba has also come under fire for potentially contravening the law by giving vouchers to newly elected lawmakers ahead of a dinner at his official residence. With Ishibia preoccupied by his own issues, he would likely be powerless to break any deadlock between Japan and China even if he wanted to.
The three-way talks yielded no substantial outcomes due to the individual agendas of Japan, China and South Korea. Although Wang emphasized that Asia should have the power to control its own destiny and called for increased cooperation between the three countries, Japan — as an ally of the US — has no choice but to follow Trump’s banner of full-scale opposition to China.
Japan this week is to welcome US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for the first time, which would boost the US-Japan alliance, providing Wang with a clear response through action.
Wang Hui-sheng is chief director of the Kisei Ladies’ and Children’s Hospital in Japan, and a founding member of the East Asian Research Institute.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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