Foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea to meet in Tokyo
Meeting finally confirmed following earlier reports that disagreement over territorial issues would postpone it
Foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea will meet in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday , their ministries said on Monday, amid rising tensions among the three countries over territorial disputes and regional security.
“Cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea is significant to the region,” foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
“We hope the trilateral meeting can [help maintain] the cooperation and work towards the goal of setting up an economic community by 2020.”
Lu did not respond to a question on whether Foreign Minister Wang Yi would hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, but said that the summit “has nothing to do with bilateral meetings”.
A senior Japanese foreign ministry official said last month that Japan was considering hosting the trilateral meeting, normally an annual event, in late August. But a flare-up in Sino-Japanese tensions over the Diaoyu Islands since then had stoked worries that the meeting might not take place.