(This article is based on Mr. Sima Nan's video program, and the content has been deleted)
There are people who are now deliberately dividing the cooperation between China, Japan, and South Korea, and this point has been raised in the past. But nowadays, this idea is being raised by Chinese expatriates living in Japan. This is where the story comes in, as the expatriate got information from Japan, and he suggested that there are people who are constantly creating contradictions between China and Japan, between China and South Korea, and between the three.
Two days ago, Yonhap News Agency had a message. The South Korean government is coordinating a meeting of the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea in Seoul in late May 2024.
It should be noted that if the trip takes place, it will be the first time in four and a half years since the Chengdu meeting in December 2019 that the heads of state of the three countries will resume talks. The GDP of China, Japan, and the ROK accounts for nearly a quarter of the world's total economic output, and accounts for more than 83 percent of the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership," also known as the RCEP, promoted by these three countries. Therefore, it is self-evident that the cooperation of these three countries will have a significant impact on East Asia and the world.
But some people don't want you to cooperate.
The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met for the first time in Fukuoka, Japan, in 2008 and signed a statement. Although the three countries have different social systems, different national sizes, different stages of social development, and different cultures, the three countries are partnerships, and they should meet once a year in the future to discuss cooperation.
But in 2012, there was a conflict between China and Japan, and there was also a strange island dispute between Japan and South Korea.
In 2015, the sixth meeting in Seoul was reconvened as a result of the tripartite effort. That year, relations between China and South Korea deteriorated due to the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system by the United States, and the 2016 and 2017 meetings were suspended again. After the 7th Tokyo Conference in 2018 and the 8th Chengdu Conference in 2019, the new crown epidemic inexplicably occurred, and the China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting was put on hold for another four and a half years.
Incidents in China, Japan, and South Korea continue to occur. When there are no big things, Americans will stir up trouble here. The situation at the last session should be described as unsatisfactory.
There is a narrative on the website of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the 2019 Chengdu meeting. At that time, the Chinese premier said——
At that time, Japanese Prime Minister Abe was still alive, and he said on the stage that Japan-China relations were steadily improving, and he was happy to exchange views with the then Chinese premier in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
The atmosphere was not bad. At that time, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also put forward some opinions on Sino-Japanese relations.
First, China-Japan relations have returned to the normal track, and China's top leader will visit Japan next spring to continue communication and usher in a new era of Japan-China relations.
Second, Abe said that China and Japan have a great responsibility for regional peace, stability, and prosperity, so Japan is willing to assume this responsibility, and said that the improvement and development trend of Japan-China relations should not stop at a moment, but should be "unremitting exchanges", which is generally positive.
Despite the leaders' remarks, there is always an external force outside the three countries.
Reuters once reported that on November 13, 2020, before China, Japan and South Korea promoted the RCEP agreement, US Under Secretary of State for Japan-South Korea Affairs Marco Knappe called on the two countries not to take into account economic and trade relations with Chinese mainland and encouraged Japan and South Korea to quarrel with the mainland on a series of issues.
Coincidentally, it was also the year that in 2020, the relationship between Japan and South Korea deteriorated due to the "labor case judgment issue", and the trilateral leaders' meeting was interrupted again.
How did I think of talking about this today? Because we are all talking about fighting the economy right now, and the relationship between China, Japan, and South Korea has a great impact on our economy. Ms. Wang Jingxian, a well-known Japanese commentator, recently wrote an article about this matter, and I think it is very accurate, so I will share it with you.
From the perspective of the fundamental interests of Japan, the ROK, and China, cooperation between China, Japan, and the ROK is beneficial to each other. But now, whenever we want to cooperate, someone comes to make trouble, and every time we succeed.
In November last year, the foreign ministers of China, Japan, and the ROK held a meeting in South Korea, and this time they again said that they hoped to jointly resume the meeting of the leaders of the three countries at an early date.
The Secretary-General of the Secretariat was interviewed by various media outlets, and they all said some good things, emphasizing that it is difficult for you and me to ease the economic recovery, and you are also weak and I am also weak, and supply chain issues, Northeast Asia issues, peace and stability issues are all difficult.
Now it's time to fight the economy to reach an agreement, but then it's troublesome. What's the trouble? The United States hooks up with Japan, South Korea, and mini-NATO around China.
Small NATO is also called Asian Little NATO. There is a big NATO in Europe. And small NATO is the abbreviation of the "Asian small-scale North Atlantic Treaty Organization". In this organization, the United States pulls Japan, Australia, and South Korea. South Korea has not been moving forward lately, while Japan has been more active, and India has signed bilateral or multilateral agreements, and the Americans are in charge.
Who is this circle for?
The answer is self-evident, it is none other than that of China.
The Philippines is now very active, and Vietnam is also a socialist country, and Vietnam is the first to do so. The United States is playing a game of vertical and horizontal cooperation, and China, Japan, and South Korea account for one-quarter of the world's economy, so it is difficult to deal with it.
In terms of the general trend, China, Japan, and South Korea have relatively close economic relations, and some people even put forward the concept of "Asian dollar" back then, but the Americans must not watch China's economic size continue to develop and even reach a close level to the United States.
The economies of China, Japan, and South Korea are brought together, so what the Americans are doing not only harms the fundamental interests of the Chinese people, but also harms the interests of the Japanese people and the interests of the Korean people.
Under such circumstances, it is all too important to be vigilant against the Americans making trouble and undermining relations between China, Japan, and South Korea. Under the circumstances in which the Americans are making such trouble, how can we be able to maintain stability between China, Japan, and the ROK on the whole? This is an important policy of our current diplomacy.
Finally, we must resolutely criticize Japan's actions, and we must also resolutely criticize South Korea's behavior of jumping around and plunging headlong into the arms of the Americans to the detriment of China's interests; but at the same time, we must also realize that the interests of China, Japan, and South Korea are closely linked.
Reference: Wang Jingxian
Responsible editor|Hu Yan Wang Debo
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