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Leaders agree to boost tripartite partnership

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-17 07:57

The first-ever tripartite summit between South Korea, China and Japan, which took place on Saturday in Fukuoka, Japan was of symbolic significance.

But the meeting of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso should not be underestimated. Leaders of the three neighboring Asian countries, while they have met annually on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three Summit since 1999, had never met separately at multilateral international forums.

What brought the three countries - whose history and territorial disputes remain a formidable barrier to closer ties - was the urgency of the global financial and economic crisis. Saturday's three-nation summit was a result of Lee's call for a meeting of the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China made in October.

Indeed, it was the economy that dominated the agenda. The three leaders agreed to reinforce existing currency swap deals and speed up an agreement with ASEAN to create an $80 billion joint fund by next June to avert a financial crisis.

The three leaders also agreed on early injection of cash into the Asian Development Bank to ensure funding for projects in Asia's developing countries.

They agreed on the need to expand demand and pledged not to create new trade barriers over the next 12 months.

The failure of the most recent Six Party Talks was high on the minds of the three leaders.

They agreed to strengthen the tripartite partnership for "regional stability, prosperity and peace". Indeed, South Korea, China and Japan together can play an instrumental role in achieving those goals. As a regional group, they can become a stronger voice on the global stage.

However, there are many barriers to greater cooperation that still remain. In fact, had it not been for the worsening global financial crisis, the summit in Fukuoka may not have happened.

Critics may point out - and justly so - that the tripartite summit did not produce any specific plan of action. Indeed, much of the joint statement released after the meeting simply reaffirmed commitments that had already been announced.

Yet, the fact that the leaders from the three countries agreed to hold annual meetings is one outcome of the summit, which holds promise for the future. China is to host the summit next year and South Korea will host one in 2010.

There are many differences that have prevented them from sitting down to a three-nation summit in the past. One example of the strained relations between the three countries was the exchange concerning a chain of disputed islands between the countries. Although the issue of Dokdo (Takeshima) was not brought up, it is one of several issues that have the potential to damage relations between South Korea and Japan.

While the first tripartite summit was convened to address the global economic crisis, it is hoped that future summits serve to broaden cooperation among the three countries.

The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

(China Daily 12/17/2008 page9)