READOUT OF PRC-JAPAN-ROK TRILAT SUMMIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 002897

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2024
TAGS: PREL PARM PGOV ECON MNUC SENV CH JA KN KS
SUBJECT: READOUT OF PRC-JAPAN-ROK TRILAT SUMMIT

Classified By: Political Regional Unit Chief Mark Lambert. Reason 1.4
(b) and (d).


Summary
--------------


1. (C) The Second PRC-Japan-ROK trilateral summit held in
Beijing on October 10 focused primarily on the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a pledge to work
towards a successful Copenhagen climate change conference,
according to our contacts at the Japanese and ROK embassies
in Beijing. The trilat parties issued two joint statements:
one pledging further cooperation in five broad fields, the
second focusing on sustainable development with a particular
focus on climate change. The three leaders pledged to
support a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Round
in 2010 but did not discuss concerns about RMB depreciation
against the yen or the need to reform international financial
institutions. The summit did not address nonproliferation
beyond the Korean Peninsula. Japan was pleased that China
agreed to meet in the "near future" to address the
territorial dispute in the East China Sea. The ROK was
satisfied with bilateral consultations with China regarding
the future of the Six-Party Talk
s. End Summary.

Background
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2. (U) On October 10, Premier Wen Jiabao hosted Japanese
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and ROK President Lee Myung-bak
in Beijing for the second Trilateral Summit Meeting. Leaders
of the three nations began meeting on the margins of the
ASEAN plus 3 in 1999. On December 13, 2008, they held their
first trilateral summit outside of ASEAN in Fukuoka, Japan.
The Beijing meeting was the tenth meeting of the three, the
second in a stand-alone forum. Leaders of the three
countries plan to meet again in 2010 in Korea. In Fukuoka,
then-PM Taro Aso, Wen Jiabao and Lee Myung-bak issued an
action plan pledging to cooperate in a issue areas ranging
from protecting migratory birds and enhancing trilateral
maritime search and rescue cooperation to supporting UN
reform, the Six-Party Talks and conducting a joint study on a
trilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Two Statements
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3. (U) According to Political Counselor at the Japanese
Embassy in Beijing Tomohiro Mikanagi, the leaders met on
October 10 in Beijing and issued two joint statements. The
first, titled "Joint Statement on the Tenth Anniversary of
Trilateral Cooperation among the People's Republic of China,
Japan and the Republic of Korea," (now available on-line)
flagged five areas of agreement:

1) A pledge to step up high-level contacts, respect each
other's core interests and facilitate exchange among the
defense personnel of the three countries;
2) A promise to deepen cooperation in business, trade,
finance, investment, logistics, IPR, customs, science and
technology, and energy to include a commitment to seek a
successful conclusion of the Doha Development Round in 2010;
3) An expansion of people to people exchanges;
4) A pledge to support regional mechanisms that enhance peace
and stability in Asia, including the ASEAN plus 3, East Asia
Summit, ARF and APEC. The joint statement made a special
reference to the need to continue to work through peaceful
means to pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
and the importance of the Six-Party Talks;
5) A promise to respond actively to global issues such as
climate change, financial risks, energy security, public
health, natural disaster, terrorism, arms control and UN
reform.



4. (SBU) Mikanagi also explained that the Joint Statement
on Sustainable Development among the People's Republic of
China, Japan and the Republic of Korea was issued in order to
highlight the need for international support for the
Copenhagen Conference. The Sustainable Development statement
pledged trilateral support for fighting pollution, promoting
recycling and sustainable development, but Mikanagi
emphasized that the pledge to work closely to make Copenhagen
a success was the key part of the agreement. He said that PM

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Hatoyama looked at the agreement as a reiteration of the
pledge Hatoyama made at UNGA in New York. Mikanagi conceded
that the agreement was a statement of "only very general
principles." MFA Deputy Division Director for Japan Yang
Shichao said the MFA viewed the statements as a blueprint for
the trilateral relationship over the coming years.

FTA
---


5. (SBU) Mikanagi said that Japan had hoped to be able to
announce at the summit that a joint study begun in 2003 by
the Development Research Center of the Chinese State Council
(DRC),the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) on a
Trilateral FTA would have been passed to the three
governments for more serious study. Instead, according to
Mikanagi, due to concerns raised by the ROK that the report
needed more academic study, the parties agreed only that
business leaders, academics and the governments of the three
countries would analyze the report. Mikanagi offered no time
line of when that analysis would be finished.

DPRK
--------------


6. (C) Both Japan's Mikanagi and Lee Heon, Counselor at the
ROK Embassy in Beijing, told POLOFF that there was a great
deal of discussion at the meeting of a "Grand Bargain" to
resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. Lee Heon said
that Chinese MFA officials were keenly interested in
President Lee's proposal that the other five parties offer a
one-time package of aid and diplomatic concessions to North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il in exchange for denuclearization.
Counselor Lee said that ROK officials who met with Chinese
counterparts in separate ROK-PRC bilateral meetings discussed
DPRK strategies in-depth, but he offered POLOFF no detailed
analysis.

Follow up Meetings
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7. (C) Mikanagi said that Hatoyama and Wen agreed that the
Chinese Premier would visit Japan sometime in 2010 and that
Hatoyama would return to Beijing soon for a bilateral
meeting. Japan and China agreed to establish a bilateral
food safety board to address lingering concerns about Chinese
agricultural exports to Japan. Mikanagi also said that in
bilateral meetings between the Japanese and Chinese, much
time was devoted to discussing the territorial dispute in the
East China Sea and disagreements over exploiting energy
deposits there. Mikanagi said that some progress had been
made on the issue and the GOJ was pleased that Wen agreed to
hold experts meetings "in the near future." Mikanagi said
that Chinese officials had told the Japanese that they could
not move faster on the matter due to "domestic public
opinion."

What they Did Not Discuss
--------------


8. (C) According to our Japanese and ROK contacts, there was
no discussion of the Nonproliferation Treaty Review
Conference or of China ratifying the CTBT. Other than a
general overview of regional architecture, there was no
detailed discussion about the East Asian Community or other
regional groupings. Despite agreeing in Fukuoka to explore
joint maritime search and rescue cooperation, the topic was
not discussed in Beijing.

MFA's views
--------------


9. (C) Yang told EconOff the MFA wanted the PRC-Japan-ROK
relationship to be a "comprehensive partnership in a
future-oriented-looking manner." He said the relationship
had seen both big accomplishments and minor setbacks.
Respecting common interests, openness, and transparency were
the key to a successful trilateral relationship, he said.
PRC-Japan-ROK relations should not be based on excluding
other countries but rather should encourage diversity,
according to Yang.
HUNTSMAN