5/27/2024–|Last updated: 5/27/202404:09 PM (Mecca time)
Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on Monday urged South Korea and Japan to reject “protectionism” and economic separation, the day after a summit that brought together the three countries in the South Korean capital, Seoul, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
“Li called for not turning economic and trade issues into political or security issues, and for rejecting protectionism, secession, and cutting off supply chains,” Xinhua News Agency reported.
Lee also called for “deepening economic and trade ties, maintaining stability and industrial and supply chains, resuming negotiations on the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and completing the negotiations as soon as possible.”
He said that China, Japan and South Korea should adhere to the original aspiration for cooperation, and make joint efforts to resume and accelerate cooperation between the three parties in order to make major contributions to regional prosperity and stability.
Both South Korea and Japan are closely linked to China through trade relations, while they also share Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s growing influence.
Joint declaration
Meanwhile, the three major East Asian powers agreed to deepen economic relations and revive negotiations on a free trade agreement.
The powers affirmed – in a joint declaration after the summit – their commitment to the goal of making the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons and their commitment to political solutions to the issues between South Korea and North Korea.
The three countries’ statement also included calls for cooperation in the fields of sustainable development, health care, science, technology and disaster management, according to what was reported by the German News Agency.
South Korean President Yeon Suk-yeol, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida participated in the tripartite summit.
Yoon said – in a press conference – that the three countries “decided to hold regular tripartite meetings,” and the powers agreed that these meetings are of “valuable importance for revitalizing tripartite cooperation.”
This was the ninth tripartite summit of these countries, but the first since December 2019 due to the Corona pandemic and tensions between South Korea and Japan, two allies of the United States, whose relations have improved since then.
