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Backgrounder: Trilateral meetings of leaders of China, Japan, South Korea

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-29 13:33
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BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the third three-way leaders' meeting of China, South Korea and Japan on Saturday in South Korea's southern island of Jeju.

The summit is held within the framework of a regular meeting mechanism of the three East Asian nations' leaders.

The first summit was held in the Japanese city of Fukuoda on December 13, 2008, when Premier Wen joined his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in discussions of tripartite cooperation, the global financial crisis and other issues of common concern.

The leaders agreed to enhance cooperation on disaster management, as the three countries are subject to such natural disasters as earthquakes, typhoons, floods, sediment-related disasters and tsunamis, a joint statement after the meeting said.

The second summit, held on October 10, 2009, in Beijing, was chaired by Premier Wen and attended by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

During the meeting, the three leaders vowed to deepen trilateral cooperation from a strategic perspective.

A joint statement issued during the event said that the three countries had enhanced mutual political trust through forging a future-oriented, comprehensive cooperative partnership. Moreover, the common interests of the three nations have continuously grown, the mechanisms for dialogue have been further broadened and cooperation in a range of fields has been promoted since the launch of trilateral cooperation in 1999, the statement said.

Before the independent regular meeting mechanism took shape, eight tripartite meetings were held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three summits held in ASEAN member countries. The following is a chronology of the eight meetings:

-- The first trilateral meeting brought together Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung for an informal breakfast meeting on November 28, 1999, in Manila. The leaders had friendly conversations focusing on domestic economic situations in their respective countries as well the regional economic situation.

-- Chinese Premier Zhu, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim held a breakfast meeting on November 24, 2000, in Singapore.

The leaders exchanged views on enhancing cooperation among the three countries and on their cooperation with ASEAN, reaching consensus on many issues.

-- On November 5, 2001, Chinese Premier Zhu, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Kim held a breakfast meeting in the Brunei capital Bandar Seri Begawan.

The leaders exchanged views on boosting economic and trade cooperation among the three countries and reached consensus on a wide range of issues.

-- On November 4, 2002, Chinese Premier Zhu, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo held the fourth trilateral meeting in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

-- Chinese Premier Wen, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun held the fifth meeting on October 7, 2003, in Bali, Indonesia.

The leaders discussed cooperation among the three countries, their cooperation with ASEAN and other issues of common concern. They also signed the Joint Declaration on the Promotion of Tripartite Cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea.

-- The sixth trilateral meeting was held on November 29, 2004, in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It was attended by Chinese Premier Wen, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and South Korean President Roh. At the meeting, the Action Strategy on Trilateral Cooperation was adopted, and a progress report on cooperation among the three countries was issued.

-- Chinese Premier Wen, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh held the seventh meeting on January 14, 2007, in Cebu, the Philippines.

The three leaders exchanged views on promoting political trust and mutually beneficial cooperation between their countries and reached consensus on many issues. They also released a joint press statement, reaffirming their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

-- On November 20, 2007, Chinese Premier Wen, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, and South Korean President Roh attended the eighth meeting in Singapore, agreeing to further promote trilateral cooperation.