China, Japan, South Korea vow to enhance political trust

Leaders of China, Japan and South Korea agreed on Sunday to hold aperiodic meetings on a rotating basis to further enhance political trust.

At the Seventh Trilateral Leaders'Meeting of China, Japan and South Korea in Cebu, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun agreed that the first aperiodic meeting of the leaders will be held in China this year.

During the meeting held in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines, the three leaders also reached consensus on improving political trust among the three East Asian countries.

First, they agreed that the leaders of the three countries should strengthen communications and maintain the existing mechanism of trilateral leaders' meeting, and that they will hold the aforesaid aperiodic meetings, should a need arise, in one of the three countries on a rotating basis.

Secondly, the leaders agreed to establish a mechanism of regular consultations among senior foreign affairs officials of the three countries to communicate on issues of common concern and properly handle the concerns of each country.

Thirdly, they expressed the willingness to promote cooperation on trade, investment and energy. They agreed to initiate negotiations on trilateral investment arrangement and to explore a mechanism of trilateral quality inspection.

Fourthly, the leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation on trade, economy, information industry, environmental protection, development of human resources and culture. They jointly named a number of new priorities in trilateral cooperation, including finance, science and technology, public health, tourism, logistics and distribution, youth and teenager communications.

Fifthly, the leaders agreed to promote cultural exchanges in a bid to enhance understanding and friendship among the people of the three countries. The three countries will jointly hold "Year of Cultural Exchanges among China, Japan and Republic of Korea" in 2007.

China will hold the Ninth Asian Art Festival under the theme of Chinese, Japanese and South Korean cultures.

Wen said further strengthening cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea is in conformity with the common aspiration of the people of all countries in the region, the common expectations of the international community and the trend of the times.

On the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, Wen emphasized China's adherence to peaceful resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations so as to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia at large.

Under active mediation by China and with joint efforts by all parties concerned, he said, the process of six-party talks resumed after a 13-month stalemate.

Wen said the six-party talks, which is the practical and effective means to solve the nuclear issue, facilitates an important platform of communication and consultation for all parties in the process of building up a new model in Northeast Asia.

Wen said China is ready to make join efforts with Japan and South Korea to hold sound consultations with other parties, strive for progress in the talks and realize the goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at an early date.

Abe and Roh said Japan and South Korea will work for peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue through dialogues and negotiations. They expressed their willingness to strengthen communication and cooperation with China to expedite the process of the six-party talks.

On cooperation in East Asia, Wen said China, Japan and South Korea should continue to promote the cooperation in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, tolerance, and win-win results of mutual benefit.

Wen said that they should respect the ASEAN's leading role in East Asia cooperation, and regard the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) as the main channel in pushing forward East Asia cooperation.

The leaders of the three countries maintained that their meeting was frank, practical and fruitful, which further made clear the direction of trilateral cooperation in the future.