Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) or South Korea for the Ninth Trilateral Summit between the three important Northeast Asian countries after a gap of four and half years with the last such event having took place in 2019. The significance of the Summit lies in the fact of it taking place amid seismic changes unfolding in the Northeast Asian region and the Indo- Pacific as well as the world at large. These include but not limited to the recent buildup of tensions across the Taiwan Straits, the increasing grey warfare tactics of China in the South China Sea, tensions among the three countries over territorial disputes such as the Senkaku/ Diaoyu Island between Tokyo and Beijing and between Beijing and Seoul over the latter’s vocal positions on Taiwan and the South China Sea (SCS), and an increasingly belligerent North Korea preparing for war with the ‘principal enemy’ (South Korea). Adding to this is the looming presence of the US intensifying its alliances with both Japan and South Korea as seen in the recent announcement of the US- Japan- ROK Trilateral during August 2023 and the Summit between Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and US president Joe Biden in April 2024 which saw Tokyo taking a more active role in matters of defence and security in the alliance with US. In view of the above, the Trilateral Summit between the three East Asian countries, key players in the global economic and political arena, and the declarations and official statements released hereafter could be seen as a form of détente on the part of China− the largest of the three countries.
Détente refers to the period in Cold War history between 1967 to 1979 which saw the easing of tensions between the then superpowers US and the USSR. The détente was the result of realization by the latter of the need to limit and regulate the dangerously expanding nuclear arms race and hence the period saw the signing of the important Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) I. In addition, both sides also initiated discussion on other topics such as political delimitation of boundaries, trade and technological cooperation and investment and human rights protection; yet this period was ended by the 1979 Soviet entry into Afghanistan bringing tensions to the fore.
Like the Détente, the current Trilateral Summit has happened in the midst of increasing Sino- US rivalry especially in the Indo- Pacific and Northeast Asian regions. However, unlike the US’s outreach to the USSR, here Beijing has instead chosen to reach out to Tokyo and Seoul− two prominent US allies and neighbours of China. The roots of this outreach can be traced to the China- ROK- Japan Cooperation International Forum held in July 2023 in Qingdao which saw Beijing calling the three nations to ‘revitalize Asia’ and seek ‘strategic autonomy’ from the West. Addressing the Forum, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asserted that ‘Asia was the common home’ of all the three countries and the latter should ‘uphold mutual respect and live in harmony,…achieve mutual success, uphold self-reliance and independence, unite and strengthen ourselves (the three countries)’ while practicing ‘open regionalism, promoting Asian values, cultivating a sense of strategic autonomy and regional unity and stability’− the focus on Asia and Asian values and autonomy and regional stability are aimed at fostering a common Asian identity vis- a vis the West.
Also, in an apparent dig at the US, mention was also made of ‘some major powers outside the region have deliberately exaggerated ideological differences and woven various exclusive small circles (reference to US led Asian minilaterals)’ to ‘pursue their own geopolitical interest.’ Hence the three Asian countries should ‘resist the resurgence of Cold War thinking…’ and ‘firmly grasp the destiny of their own countries and regions in their own hands’ or seek autonomy from the US.
