May 27 (LNGJ) - Japan, South Korea and China held their first summit in more than four years as they seek progress on improving Asian energy and trade supply chains amid stalled talks on a free trade agreement between the three. The Japanese and South Korean sides also used the occasion to criticize North Korea over a planned satellite launch and increasing tensions around Taiwan.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul. None of the three were in office for the last summit in December 2019 in Chengdu in China just before the Covid-19 pandemic. “Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are of the utmost importance to international society,” Japan’s PM Kishida told Chinese Premier Li in bilateral talks after China held large-scale military exercises last week offshore Taiwan.
