Li meets Abe, sees signs of recovery in ties amid ongoing sensitivity
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called for disturbance-free China-Japan-South Korea cooperation after leaders from the three countries reached several consensuses during a trilateral summit in Seoul on Sunday, three years after the annual summit was suspended because of disputes over historical and territorial disputes. [Special coverage]
Analysts said the summit could be considered "successful" as the three leaders have at last sat down together and reached agreements over the economy and regional safety issues, although concerns remain over whether Japan's moves may trigger a setback in the future.
Li said after the summit at a joint press conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the three sides had a frank exchange of views, reached many consensuses, and agreed to promote cooperation on the basis of facing up to history, looking forward to the future, and properly handling historical and other sensitive issues.
He urged the three sides to keep a firm grasp on the general direction of their relations, so as to push forward cooperation and allow the trilateral summits to proceed regularly.
Park said the three countries passed a joint declaration in which they agreed to resume regular trilateral summits.
Abe did not touch on "historical issues" at the briefing, only saying he frankly exchanged ideas with China and South Korea over regional peace and stability.
He also said that Japan will host next year's summit and will use the outcome of the latest meeting as the starting point, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
The three sides also agreed to make joint efforts to resume talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program and speed up negotiations for a three-way free trade agreement.
This is the sixth China-Japan-South Korea leaders' meeting since 2008. The summit was held annually until 2012.
Li meets Abe
Li also met Abe in a separate meeting Sunday evening. While admitting the two countries' relations are showing signs of recovery, Li said there is still a long way for the two sides to get back to normal, because of the sensitivity and complexity of their ties.
Li urged the Japanese side to carefully deal with sensitive historical issues.
"Historical issues concern the political foundation of Sino-Japanese ties and the feeling of 1.3 billion Chinese people, we hope Japan … abides by its promises and really faces up to and reflects on history, and deals with relevant issues in a responsible manner," Li said, according to a statement on China's foreign ministry website.
Li also urged Japan to keep its path of peace and development and respect neighboring countries' concerns over its military and security moves, and to "be more committed to things that help with regional peace and stability."
Abe said he has "unwavering faith" in the principle of building strategic relations of mutual benefit with China, Japan's Kyodo News reported.
Japan will continue to pursue peaceful development based on its reflection over WWII, and adhere to a defensive military policy, Xinhua quoted Abe as saying.
The Abe administration has recently pushed through a security law that will allow its military to have greater power, which has caused concern from the international community.
Abe and Li on Sunday also agreed that the two countries will resume high-level economic dialogue at an early date in 2016, and to resume reciprocal visits by the two countries' foreign ministers, Kyodo reported.
Step forward
Yang Bojiang, director of Japanese studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times Sunday that the three countries have stopped a relationship driven by negative issues and stepped into positive, cooperative relations.
Zhou Yongsheng, professor from the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, said that the summit has set the tone for East Asia political and economic development and can help improve Sino-Japan ties.
"As long as Japan follows the four-point agreement made with China in 2014 and isn't provocative in its behavior, sustainable Sino-Japan ties and trilateral ties can develop," he said.
Yang agreed that Japan's attitude toward historical issues will be crucial to the stability of the trilateral relation.
The summit has also been conducive to reactivating the Six-Party Talks mechanism, and will thus help settle the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, as the three countries are important players among the six parties, which also involves North Korea, Russia and the US, said Xu Liping, a research fellow at CASS.
He said, however, the trilateral relation is not perfect because political issues, such as historical and territorial disputes, have not been solved yet, which will remain an obstacle in the relationship.
On Saturday, a bilateral meeting between China and South Korea was held while Li and Park witnessed the signing of 17 bilateral cooperation agreements covering such areas as trade and economy, science and technology and environmental protection.
