ASEAN strengthens cooperation with APT partners

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Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders and their three Northeast Asian partners, China, Japan, and Republic of Korea (ROK), need to step up cooperation in an increasingly unpredictable strategic landscape marred by competing visions for regional architecture and a growing trade war, said Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday.

The remarks were made at the 21st ASEAN Plus Three meeting (APT) in Singapore.

"These developments call for the APT to close ranks and redouble our efforts to uphold multilateralism because we must continue to maintain an open rules-based and inclusive global trade environment for us all to prosper,” said Lee.

Leaders from China, Japan, and ROK echoed the view in their opening statements.

The expansion of their discussion agendas is considered the most significant progress since the conception of APT.

The grouping was conceived in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis in its infancy; the ASEAN+3 Summit was originally an economically-driven mechanism.

An officer adjusts China's national flag before the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit in Singapore, November 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Besides finance, APT leaders now discuss issues about security, poverty eradication, and culture, among others.

In October, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, made a state visit to China, the first in seven years by a Japanese leader.

The state visit was made to commemorate China and Japan's 40th anniversary of their Peace and Friendship Treaty. Observers hailed the trip as an important step in the reconciliation of China and Japan, the world's second and third largest economies respectively.

On top of an agreement to reduce tension in the East China Sea by opening dialogues, Japan and China also signed around 50 agreements to up cooperation in third-party countries.

Additionally, the two sides and ROK are working together to form a free trade agreement, said Premier Li. This, in addition to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal, would benefit the region greatly, said Premier Li.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during the ASEAN-Plus Three (APT) summit on the sidelines of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on November 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

"It is our hope that these two processes could be advanced in parallel and in a balanced way. At the same time, the RCEP negotiations which are led by ASEAN, which is also a larger scope free-trade arrangement, could be reached at an earlier date,” he said.

"The China-ROK-Japan free trade negotiation will be passed according to the time-frame we have agreed upon," Li added.