Foreign ministers from China, Japan, and South Korea convened in Tokyo last week for a day of meetings revolving around trade, foreign policy, regional and global ‘hotspots,’ and the airing of grievances new and old.
China cast the spring summit — the 11th meeting of the three countries’ foreign ministers — as a successful next step in ‘warming’ trilateral relations. South Korea and Japan were more circumspect, mostly committing to maintain, rather than expand, relations with China.
A Japanese readout of the 80-minute discussion noted a joint commitment to work towards three somewhat hazy objectives: “knowing each other better,” co-operation on “shaping and protecting” livelihoods, and tackling common challenges.
Disagreements emerged over both new and long-standing issues. During a discussion on Ukraine, Japan’s foreign minister, Iwaya Takeshi, emphasized that “unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force should not be tolerated anywhere in the world,” a comment likely aimed at both Moscow and Beijing.
Iwaya met separately with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. Iwaya pressed Wang to lift China’s import restrictions on certain Japanese products, reiterated the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait, and criticized China’s detainment of Japanese nationals and its incursions into waters around the Senkaku Islands (which Beijing also claims and refers to as the Diaoyu Islands).
The two sides also held a high-level economic forum for the first time in six years, discussing their “respective economic situations.” Wang, for his part, suggested negotiations towards the stalled China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement “should be resumed” soon.
South Korea and Japan also held a bilateral meeting, dealing mainly with Japan-South Korea-U.S. relations. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said last week that co-operation between Seoul and Tokyo is “absolutely essential.”
In 2023, China’s top five export markets were the U.S., Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, and South Korea. The same year, China imported more goods from South Korea (worth US$162 billion) than any other country.
Unity in the eye of the beholder
In a swipe at the U.S., Chinese state-run media hailed the meetings as “a strong countermeasure against unilateral and protectionist moves by certain countries.”
A Chinese readout quoted Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, who greeted the visiting foreign ministers, as saying that Japan “respects” China’s positions as laid out by Wang. Tokyo argued, however, that Ishiba made “no such statement” and requested the removal of the quote. (At the time of writing, the quote was still online.) For Beijing, it may have merely been wishful thinking: Seoul and Tokyo have grown closer to Washington in recent years and remain reluctant to fully embrace China. Cho suggested recently that South Korea seeks to balance the influences of the U.S. and China.
South Korea has lacked stable leadership since President Yoon Suk Yeol’s December 3 declaration (and abrupt annulment) of martial law. Yoon is waiting to see if South Korea’s Constitutional Court will uphold or dismiss his impeachment. Possibly due to this political uncertainty, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is skipping South Korea on his inaugural Asia tour, opting instead for Japan and the Philippines.
China’s ‘charm offensive’ fizzles
Beijing is seemingly also looking to thaw ties with Ottawa. China’s ambassador to Canada, Wang Di, told The Globe and Mail last week that “China is ready to engage with Canada in co-operation,” pointing to “huge potential.”
Days before the interview was published, however, it was revealed that China had executed four Canadian citizens earlier in 2025 for what Beijing suggested were drug-related crimes. Ottawa strongly condemned the move. The next day, Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola oil, seafood, pork, and other products came into effect.
Canada’s next prime minister — and the direction of Canadian policy towards China and the Indo-Pacific at large — will be determined following an April 28 federal election.
