TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan and China agreed to resume high-level trilateral talks with South Korea that would include the countries’ leaders and top diplomats, Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a regular press conference, Hayashi said he and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi made the agreement on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Indonesia earlier this month.
A trilateral summit meeting has not been held since December 2019 due to diplomatic tensions between Japan and South Korea, which have since thawed.
“It’s highly meaningful for the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, which share a big responsibility towards the region’s peace and prosperity, to get together” to discuss cooperation and other issues, Hayashi told reporters.
U.S. allies Japan and South Korea are wary of China’s increasing military assertiveness and of growing tensions between China and the United States over a range of issues including trade and self-ruled Taiwan.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)
