- Foreign ministers from the three countries will meet in Beijing next week amid strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo
- They are expected to map out a planned leaders’ summit later this year
Beijing may seek to ease tensions between two US allies next week when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosts his Japanese and South Korean counterparts for talks in Beijing, analysts say.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono is expected to arrive in the Chinese capital on Tuesday for the ninth meeting of top diplomats from China, Japan and South Korea, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.
South Korea's foreign ministry also confirmed that its minister, Kang Kyung-wha, would travel to Beijing for the talks.
Wang, Kono and Kang are expected to meet on the outskirts of the city to map out a planned summit of leaders from the three neighbouring countries to be held later this year.
Japan's foreign ministry said Kono was also expected to hold separate meetings with Wang and Kang on the sidelines of their trilateral meeting.
The talks " the first between foreign ministers of the three countries since 2016 " come amid a flare-up of tensions between Seoul and Tokyo, prompted by a dispute over Japan's colonial legacy.
Earlier this month, Japan decided to remove South Korea from a list of countries with preferential trade status, prompting tit-for-tat retaliation from Seoul, including a threat to scrap their intelligence-sharing agreement.
The trade row was sparked by a recent South Korean court ruling that Japanese companies should compensate individual victims of wartime forced labour. Tokyo believes it settled all necessary compensation under a treaty signed in 1965, but Seoul believes that the right of individual victims to file a claim has not expired.
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Observers have suggested that Beijing, facing growing hostility from Washington, could try to quietly advance its strategic interests in the region if the dispute between Seoul and Tokyo continued to escalate.
But Huang Dahui, a professor of Japanese studies at Renmin University of China, said Beijing may try to "play an active role" to defuse tensions between the two neighbours because stability in the region was a priority for the Chinese government.
"Any escalation of tensions between Japan and South Korea could jeopardise trilateral cooperation," Huang said. "China may try to convince Japan and South Korea that trilateral cooperation is of greater interest to the three countries."
He said China could also seek to "facilitate coordination and communications" between the two countries. "To China, there is a bigger interest in trilateral cooperation."
In a sign of willingness to repair strained ties, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday softened his tone against Japan, saying he would welcome an invitation for talks with Tokyo.
"Only when we work together will we be able to achieve joint growth that is sustainable," Moon said in a nationally televised speech that marked the end of World War II.
"If Japan chooses the path of dialogue and cooperation, we will gladly join hands," he said.
Huang said Tokyo " which saw Beijing, not Seoul, as its top rival " would not want to escalate the situation, especially with the Tokyo Olympics just a year away.
"Given this context, the meeting in Beijing could also provide the two neighbours with an opportunity to back down in a more graceful way," he added.
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Diplomatic sources told Kyodo news agency earlier that the three nations were making arrangements to hold the leaders' summit in December in Beijing, and that China " this year's chair for the trilateral grouping " had proposed a date to host the summit. South Korea had agreed to adjust Moon's schedule so that he could attend the talks, according to the sources.
Huang expected North Korea and negotiations for a free-trade deal " which have been slow but gained momentum at a leaders' summit in Tokyo last year " would also be high on the agenda during next week's meeting.
Beijing sees a trade pact with Japan and South Korea as an important part of its efforts to push forward regional economic integration and diversify its markets amid growing sentiment against free trade led by US President Donald Trump.
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