Recently, South Korea has been very busy, just after attending the Camp David summit on the front foot, pointing fingers at China's internal affairs, and the back foot has taken the initiative to act as a lobbyist to ease the contradictions between China and Japan, claiming to promote the trilateral summit of China, Japan and South Korea within half a year. But in order to realize this wish, China must fulfill two prerequisites, which Japan and South Korea must fulfill.
[South Korea to promote China-Japan-Korea summit within six months]
South Korea, which mixes with the United States, does not want to offend China
On August 18, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US President Joe Biden held a trilateral summit at Camp David and issued a joint statement after the meeting. In the statement, the United States, Japan, and South Korea openly interfered in the mainland's internal affairs, distorted the mainland's legitimate and legitimate behavior in exercising sovereignty in the South China Sea into "malicious aggression", and severely criticized it; At the same time, it also links the Taiwan region with international affairs. Although the United States, Japan, and South Korea have repeatedly stated that their trilateral talks are not aimed at any third country, discerning people can see that this is aimed at China.
In this regard, the mainland diplomatic spokesman said that the actions of the United States, Japan, and South Korea are malicious smears and attacks on China, gross interference in China's internal affairs, and at the same time malicious provocation of China's relations with neighboring countries, which seriously violates the basic norms governing international relations.
【South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin】
After feeling the anger of the Chinese side, the South Korean side immediately began to "show weakness". On August 21, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin publicly stated that he had informed China of the relevant content of the Camp David summit; On August 22, South Korean diplomatic spokesman Im-so-seok said that South Korea's cooperation with the United States and Japan is not intended to exclude or target any "specific country", adding that cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea will not affect China-South Korea cooperation.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that South Korea has "informed" the Chinese side. Previously, when the United States forcibly pulled South Korea to form the "Chip Quadrilateral Alliance", the South Korean side called the Chinese side as soon as possible, and its President Yoon Seok-yue personally issued instructions to say well with China and not cause mutual misunderstanding.
Obviously, South Korea is not fully "committed" in its cooperation with the United States, and cooperation and exchanges with China are also one of the priorities of South Korea's foreign policy.
The resumption of the trilateral summit between China, Japan and South Korea will be completed by South Korea within half a year
According to Korean media reports on August 29, the South Korean government is currently communicating with all parties about promoting the China-Japan-South Korea summit. Established in 2008, the China-Japan-ROK summit mechanism is held annually, with the three countries taking turns as chairs, and this year the ROK happens to be the rotating chairman.
In December 2019, the summit was held in Chengdu, China, but due to the three-year pandemic, the China-Japan-South Korea summit has been shelved, and as the tripartite relationship continues to deteriorate, there is not even a chance to hold an online meeting. Until this year, the three leaders' meetings showed signs of resuming, and South Korean officials said they would restart the trilateral talks before the end of the year. It is worth mentioning that at the same time that the South Korean side announced that it would restart the trilateral summit, the special plane of South Korean Foreign Ministry official Wu Jiaoshu arrived in China and held economic and trade talks with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei.
[Wu Jiashu and Li Fei group photo]
The reason why the South Korean side is so active in promoting the trilateral talks is, on the one hand, because the current relations between China and South Korea are also at a historical trough. Previously, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue made many Taiwan-related remarks, signed the so-called "Washington Declaration" with the United States, and even threatened to expel Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming, which led to a sharp decline in Sino-South Korean relations. The China-Japan-ROK summit is undoubtedly the best platform for easing China-South Korea relations.
On the other hand, the South Korean economy needs China's pull. After Yoon Seok-yue came to power, the South Korean economy has also become a "China containment tool" for the United States, especially in semiconductors and other fields. Because of the US export restriction policy to China, South Korea's Samsung, Hynix, SK and other companies, semiconductor inventory reached 272.85 billion yuan, a very heavy loss. But after cutting off semiconductor trade, China is still one of South Korea's largest exporters, and if the Chinese market is completely lost, the South Korean economy will be slumped.
To participate in the trilateral summit, China has two prerequisites
But to bring about a trilateral summit, two preconditions need to be addressed: First, persuading Japan to stop its selfish practice of discharging nuclear sewage into the sea. Previously, despite China's strong opposition, the Japanese side insisted on discharging Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea, resulting in the intensification of Sino-Japanese contradictions, and even the original plan of the leader of the Japanese Komeito Party to visit China was postponed, which also put a question mark on whether the Chinese and Japanese leaders could meet smoothly.
Second, stop meddling and interfering in China's internal affairs. The Taiwan region and the South China Sea issue are China's untouchable bottom line, and it is obviously impossible to interfere in China's internal affairs while still wanting to do business with China.
[Chinese Diplomatic Spokesperson Wang Wenbin]
In fact, China has always maintained an open and positive attitude towards the trilateral summit, and mainland diplomatic spokesman Wang Wenbin has repeatedly said that China, Japan and South Korea are neighbors that cannot be moved, and the economic structures of the three parties are complementary, and if they can cooperate, it will not only serve the common interests of the three parties, but also promote peace and prosperity in East Asia.
Moreover, the alliance of China, Japan and South Korea is also what the United States fears the most. Economically, China, Japan and South Korea are all major regional trading countries, accounting for more than 20% of the world's total economic output, and if the three parties strengthen cooperation, it will undoubtedly weaken the economic influence of the United States in Northeast Asia. At present, China and South Korea have signed a free trade agreement, but the United States has obstructed it, which has delayed the process of economic integration in Northeast Asia a lot.
In general, although economic and trade relations are the "ballast stone" of China-Japan-ROK cooperation, only when political "harmony" is achieved, can economic development be "hot", for the current Japan and South Korea, the most urgent task is to respond to China's legitimate concerns and stop all measures that shake the foundation of trilateral cooperation, otherwise, becoming "cannon fodder" for the United States will be the only outcome for Japan and South Korea.