trilateral relations

On April the 3rd 2017, a historic trilateral meeting took place at the Bundeskanzleramt, the German Federal Chancellor’s workplace in Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel met with her Czech and Slovak counterparts – the Prime Ministers Bohuslav Sobotka and Robert Fico – to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the German-Czechoslovak Neighbourhood Treaty, which was signed on February the 27th in 1992.

In the future, China, Japan and South Korea should make efforts to improve their relations. First, the three countries should take positive steps to increase regional cooperation and establish mechanisms such as the Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This is beneficial to the future development of the three countries

South Korean Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok will attend a culture ministers' conference with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts on Jeju Island [...] Entering its eighth edition, the trilateral meeting on Saturday and Sunday will focus on ways to establish an Asian cultural community as a joint project by the three countries in arts, cultural assets, and the culture-related industry.

On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, Xinhua published a rare opinion piece by his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif. The obvious choreography of the visit and article shows the delicate balance in relations between China, India and Pakistan. For Beijing, both powers are important if it is to realize its ambitious strategy of trade and economic corridors emanating from the Middle Kingdom under the rubric of the Silk Road Economic Belt. 

Despite the strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo and other challenges, the South Korea-U.S. alliance is “more resilient, deeper and broader than ever,” former U.S. ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens said. 

Having generated considerable turbulence in East Asia with his nationalistic policies, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to be walking back his reactionary stance on modern history—at least in public.