Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea started their first formal three-way summit since 2019 as part of efforts to improve their relations amid growing friction over trade and security issues.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol began their three-way talks Monday in Seoul. They are expected to deliver statements after the meeting and then have a session with business leaders. They met for bilateral discussions on Sunday.
While the three countries are geographically close, summits such as this are relatively rare. The leaders were supposed to convene annually but the meeting stalled for nearly five years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions. Since then, Tokyo and Seoul have improved bilateral ties and drawn closer to the U.S., worrying China.
The summit comes as Beijing has been pushing back against the tightening of U.S. chip export rules, part of a broader effort to hobble China’s chipmaking industry over national security concerns. Japan and South Korea are central to U.S. efforts to deny Beijing access to high-end chipmaking tools and technology.
Li told Yoon at their meeting Sunday that both sides should avoid turning economic issues into political issues, and Beijing welcomes South Korean firms including Samsung Electronics Co. to expand investment in China, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Yoon said he hopes both countries strengthen exchanges, according to a pool report.
Kishida’s talks with Li were a bit more pointed as he called on China to free detained Japanese nationals, and raised concern over China’s actions in the East China Sea, where ships from the two sail near disputed isles on an almost daily basis.
Tokyo and Seoul have also expressed concern about security in the Taiwan Strait, and Kishida said he brought up the subject in his talks with Li.