The November meeting, held in Seoul among Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, was the first Japan-China-South Korea summit in about 3½ years.
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Japan has increasingly seen Chinese Coast Guard and government ships near the islands, which are called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China.
The top diplomats will be in the Japanese capital holding talks on Tuesday (23 August) and Wednesday (24 August) discussing trilateral cooperation on regional affairs.
The upcoming foreign ministers’ meeting will be crucial for realizing a three-way summit, he said.
Tensions between China and Japan have risen recently because of a dispute over claims to islands in the East China Sea. VOA says tensions in the region, and especially in the South China Sea, have been rising after the Chinese government turned down the decision of an global arbitration body which said the country had nearly no rights to support its claims over the body of water.
Topic over the rising tensions in the Korean peninsula over North Korea’s increasing belligerence is also bound to feature prominently during the discussions.
I believe that during the meeting, Foreign Minister Wang Yi will let the Japanese side know China’s views, and urge Japan to take concrete actions to achieve healthy and stable ties with China.
Tokyo has lodged more than two dozen protests through diplomatic channels since Aug 5, saying there have been about 30 intrusions by Chinese vessels into its territorial waters.
Separately, China has complained about the planned deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, arguing the missile shield damages its own security interests and will heighten regional tension.
South Korea, wary of offending key trade partner China, had wavered on its introduction, but went ahead in the face of North Korea’s continued missile development.
Tensions in the South China Sea have also risen after China refused to accept an worldwide arbitration panel’s ruling invalidating its claim to virtually the entire strategic water body.
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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the talks could not be considered a bilateral visit for Wang, as it was a routine trilateral meeting under an existing dialogue mechanism.
