MK sports Korea Japan and South Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. Photo: Xinhua" />

Chinese Premier Li Qiang jointly meets the press with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida following the ninth Trilateral Summit Meeting among China, Japan and South Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

The ninth Trilateral Summit Meeting amongChina, Japan and South Korea, held after more than four years, achievedsignificant progress and consensus in many areas. According to statements fromthe leaders of the three countries and the joint declaration issued after themeeting, China, Japan, and South Korea unanimously agreed to work together toimplement the Trilateral Cooperation Vision for the Next Decade adopted at theeighth Trilateral Summit Meeting and promote the institutionalization oftrilateral cooperation mechanisms among the three countries. The three partieswill resume negotiations for a China-Japan-South Korea free trade agreement,strengthen supply chain cooperation, and continuously deepen collaboration insix key areas: culture, sustainable development, economy and trade, publichealth, science and technology, and disaster relief. During the meeting,Chinese Premier Li Qiang emphasized that the three sides should upgrade andspeed up China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, embark on a new journey ofcomprehensive development and contribute more to regional prosperity andstability.

It should be said that, although somevoices from the outside intentionally lowered expectations, the results andimpact achieved in this meeting have been proven to be very significant. Inaddition to the aforementioned trilateral achievements, significant progresswas made on a bilateral level as well. China and South Korea agreed toaccelerate the second phase of their free trade agreement negotiations andestablish a "2+2" diplomatic and security dialogue. China and Japan agreed tohold a new round of high-level economic dialogue and high-levelpeople-to-people and cultural exchange consultation mechanism meetings at anappropriate time. All these are fruits borne within the framework of thetrilateral leaders' meeting between China, Japan, and South Korea. This meetingreflects the willingness of the three parties to develop relationship throughpractical cooperation, and embodies the characteristics of "fully activatingexisting cooperation and steadily nurturing new cooperation." This promptedsome American media to frankly admit that the summit reminded people that "USallies have their own interests to manage."

It is evident that there are distinctlydifferent attitudes toward this meeting. The Washington Post described themeeting as Beijing's attempt "to counter Japan and South Korea's closer tieswith US." Nikkei noted that the resumption of the dialogue among China, Japan,and South Korea came at a time when the three countries are facing commonchallenges, stating that "even as trade and geopolitical tensions rise betweenthe US and China, Japan and South Korea are not in a position to sever economicties with China."

In fact, the starkly different attitudesbetween Washington and regional countries reflect a deeper issue of how to viewtrilateral cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea. From ageopolitical perspective, especially against the backdrop of the USintensifying efforts to rally allies against China, this meeting serves more tostabilize bilateral and trilateral relationships. However, from the perspectiveof safeguarding the common interests of the three countries and addressingcommon challenges, this meeting demonstrates the strong foundation and vast potentialfor cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea. It is from the latterperspective that this meeting timely reflects some overlooked but importantrealities in the current trilateral relationship, and provides an outlook onhow to view future trilateral cooperation.

There is no need to deny that in the pastfour years, there have been many changes between China, Japan, and South Korea.Some are at economic level, such as trade that used to be more complementarybecoming more competitive, while others are at the cognitive level, with somepeople viewing China more from a competitive rather than cooperativeperspective, following the views of Washington. What is more important than thechanges themselves is how to perceive these changes. Taking China and SouthKorea as an example, as China's industrial competitiveness increases, it is areality that competition between the two countries is strengthening. However,it is also important to recognize that there is still strong tradecomplementarity in areas such as electronics, new energy, and high-endmanufacturing. If new rules arrangements are made through upgradingnegotiations of free trade agreements for emerging industries in recent years,it will further expand the industrial cooperation between the two countries,continuously unleashing the dividends of China-South Korea economic and tradecooperation.

China, Japan, and South Korea, asneighboring countries that cannot be moved, are interdependent in terms ofregional peace and stability, as well as economic development and prosperity.Despite the continuous actions and noises led by the US such as "decoupling"from China, building "small yard, high fence," and "reducing dependence onChina to ensure economic security," China is the largest trading partner ofJapan and South Korea, and Japan and South Korea are important trading partnersof China. This basic pattern remains stable. China, Japan, and South Korea haverevitalized the significant existing cooperation under the China-Japan-SouthKorea Free Trade Agreement, while also introducing new initiatives such as the"China-Japan-South Korea Innovation Cooperation Center" and theChina-Japan-South Korea Cultural Exchange Year. The ability to activateexisting cooperation and generate new initiatives stems from the inherent logicof internal demand. This reflects traditional cooperation needs that have beenvalidated over many years and exhibit strong resilience. Meanwhile, the newinitiatives demonstrate emerging trends that align with and adapt to thefurther requirements of trilateral cooperation.

As neighboring countries with a long sharedhistory and great potential for cooperation in various fields in the future,China, Japan, and South Korea stand at a crucial point for the comprehensiverestart of trilateral cooperation, making it particularly important to looktoward the future. For the present moment, even in disagreements, there isstill space to find consensus and cooperation. Looking toward the future,China, Japan, and South Korea are still opportunities for each other.