Top Chinese diplomat proposes talks with Japan, South Korea

In a meeting with the Japanese foreign minister this month in Indonesia, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi suggested high-level discussions involving China, Japan, and South Korea, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday. According to Kyodo, which cited unnamed diplomatic sources, the suggestion is considered as a desire to restart negotiations between the three nations, and Japan would quicken its preparations to make it happen by the end of the year. Japan and South Korea, allies of the United States, are cautious of China’s growing military assertiveness and of the rising tensions between China and the United States over a number of topics, including trade and Taiwan’s self-rule. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo could not be reached for comment on Sunday, outside of office hours, while the Foreign Ministry of China withheld an immediate response. On July 14, Wang and Yoshimasa Hayashi, the foreign minister of Japan, met outside of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathering in Indonesia. They addressed the Japanese government’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, but they were unable to come to an agreement. A summit of the three countries’ leaders could be delayed because of the water issue, according to Kyodo. The leaders of the three nations last congregated in December of that year. According to Kyodo, Japan informed South Korea of Wang’s suggestion for the negotiations. (With agency inputs)