Trilateral talks in Tokyo: Unite the strength of three

Editor's note: Xiang Haoyu, a special commentator for CGTN, is a specially appointed research fellow at the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies, China Institute of International Studies. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The meeting of the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea in Tokyo on March 22 sends a signal of pragmatic multilateral cooperation, prioritizing common interests over ideological differences. According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry of Japan, which is the rotating chair of the mechanism this year, the talks included trilateral cooperation, the regional and global situation, covering Ukraine and more, and preparing for a trilateral summit in Tokyo at a convenient date.

The leaders' summit is the core of the cooperation framework. After a hiatus of nearly four and a half years, it resumed in Seoul last May, reaching consensus on six major areas of cooperation: cultural exchange, sustainable development, trade, public health, technology, and disaster relief. The leaders also agreed to restart negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement. 

This is Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's first visit to Japan in over four years. While in Tokyo, he will co-chair the 6th China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue, a mechanism that lay dormant for six years. Its revival is a crucial step in improving China-Japan relations. Historically, East Asian regional cooperation is characterized by frequent crises. The trilateral ministers' meeting was established in the aftermath of the 1998 Asian financial crisis, while the leaders' summit emerged following the 2008 global financial crisis. Today, the world once again finds itself at a crossroads of upheaval and uncertainty. As the Trump administration's aggressive trade protectionism – marked by heavy-handed tariff policies – threatens to upend the global economic order, China, Japan, and South Korea have a significant role to play.

They collectively account for 24 percent of the global GDP and nearly 20 percent of the global goods trade. This makes them key players and stakeholders in upholding multilateralism and defending the free trade system. The three neighbors are also deeply interconnected economic partners. In 2023, their combined trade volume exceeded $700 billion. The Tokyo meeting was a crucial platform for the three countries to coordinate responses to external risks.

"Our three nations have a combined population of nearly 1.6 billion and an economic output exceeding $24 trillion. With our vast markets and great potential, we can exert significant influence," Wang Yi said at the meeting, according to the Japanese statement. He also said China wants to resume free trade agreement talks with its neighbors and expand membership of the 15-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement.

However, while the trilateral regional cooperation has regained momentum, it would be naive to ignore the lingering obstacles. The trilateral ties have long been shadowed by history and strained by territorial disputes. In recent times, great power rivalries and geopolitical tensions have further complicated the equation. The United States has been pulling Japan and South Korea into its strategic orbit to contain China, pushing for a quasi-military alliance. Simultaneously, it is erecting technological and economic barriers to decouple China from global supply chains. This push for a "Cold War 2.0" narrative in Northeast Asia raises the risk of regional bloc confrontation. In this context, revitalizing and deepening China-Japan-South Korea cooperation takes on special significance.

At last year's trilateral leaders' summit, Chinese Premier Li Qiang put forward a five-point initiative to deepen cooperation. He emphasized the need to respect one another's core interests and major concerns, ensuring that bilateral relations and trilateral cooperation reinforce rather than undermine each other. He also stressed the importance of building stronger people-to-people ties, so that geographical proximity translates into genuine mutual understanding.

Besides, he called for an expansion of the "China-Japan-ROK + X" model to include external partners in targeted regional initiatives. These proposals go straight to the heart of the challenges facing the trilateral cooperation and outline a clear roadmap for future efforts.

For the trilateral cooperation to be sustainable and effective, political trust must be strengthened, and differences managed. The three neighbors must establish more effective communication and crisis management mechanisms to ensure that political and economic tensions can be addressed swiftly and rationally when they arise.

Institutionalizing economic cooperation is another key priority. There should be greater efforts to accelerate the establishment of a trilateral free trade agreement to promote trade and investment liberalization and boost economic growth. Regional supply chain integration should be strengthened, while cooperation in digital economy, green energy, healthcare, and artificial intelligence deepened to unlock new areas of economic synergy.

Beyond economic and political ties, there is a need to rebuild public trust. Expanding cultural and social exchanges – whether through education, tourism, local governance, media, or academic institutions – is essential to bridge the perception gap and gradually shift of the relationship from "close yet distant" dynamics to true mutual understanding and goodwill.

At the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in 2023, Wang Yi described trilateral cooperation as a pacesetter for East Asian cooperation, a stabilizer for regional peace and security, and a pressure relief valve for resolving tensions. As the three countries stand at a new starting point, it is essential they translate their shared commitments and political will into concrete actions to ensure their cooperation delivers tangible benefits to their people and contributes to global stability.

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