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China, Japan and South Korea will this week hold the first meeting of their foreign ministers for three years, Tokyo said, the latest sign of a gradual thaw in East Asian relations.
The three men will meet in Seoul on Saturday, a Japanese foreign ministry official said.
“Co-operation among the three countries is important for Japan and we naturally hope this foreign ministers’ meeting will lead to a summit in the future,” the official said.
He added no date had been set yet for a three-way leaders’ summit, which was last held in May 2012.
The forthcoming Seoul meeting will be the first among foreign ministers of the three countries since April 2012.
Relations between China and South Korea are strong, but both have strained ties with Japan, chiefly because of historical and territorial disputes.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has held two summits with President Xi Jinping, but only sat down with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the three-way meeting under pressure from Washington.
Seoul-Tokyo ties have always been problematic given the bitter legacy of Japan’s rule over the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
As well as a dispute over some South Korea-controlled islets, Seoul feels Tokyo has yet to fully atone for the excesses of its colonial rule and the forced recruitment of South Korean women to wartime military brothels.
Abe and Xi staged a frosty handshake on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in November, but relations also remain strained.
Japan and China have long been at odds over the sovereignty of the uninhabited Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which Japan administers and calls the Senkakus.
Relations soured further in 2012 when the Japanese government angered China by nationalising some of the islands.
Since then, Tokyo and Beijing have routinely clashed over the issue, with official Chinese ships and aircraft regularly testing Japanese forces.
 


China, Japan and South Korea’s foreign ministers agree first talks in three years

China's former foreign minister Yang Jiechi, centre, pictured with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at the last meeting between the three countries top foreign envoys in 2012. Photo: AP

China's former foreign minister Yang Jiechi, centre, pictured with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts at the last meeting between the three countries top foreign envoys in 2012. Photo: Associated Press

‘Face up to your wartime past,' China’s premier tells Japan

Li said the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war was a test and an opportunity to improve Sino-Japanese relations. Photo: EPA

China and Japan mending frail relationship one step at a time

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Abe and Xi's infamous icy handshake. Photo: Reuters

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China

Officials to hold talks this week, according to Japan's Foreign Ministry suggesting a thaw in ties in East Asia


China, Japan and South Korea will this week hold the first meeting of their foreign ministers for three years, Tokyo said, the latest sign of a gradual thaw in East Asian relations.
