By Ichiro Ozawa
It is time for the two countries to resolve their differences and work together.
The first trilateral leadership summit between Japan, China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) to be held in three and a half years took place on November 1, and it was followed, on November 2, by the first meeting between the leaders of Japan and the ROK since the governments of both nations changed hands.
East Asia in the 21st century contains the seeds for extreme instability in terms of politics, economics and security. In this situation, close cooperation between Japan and the ROK should be a given. The fact that it took this long to hold Japan-ROK leadership summit in spite of these circumstances is a political aberration that goes against the interests of the citizens of both our nations.
China is the most pressing issue in the East Asia region. There is no doubt that China will have a tremendous impact on its neighbors Japan and the ROK, as well as on the entire international community. Because of this, I think that we must carefully follow political and economic developments in China, and that Japan and the ROK should cooperate to ensure Chinese society achieves a soft landing. If we can succeed in encouraging China to move in the direction of democracy, it should be able to exist peacefully with the rest of East Asia and the international community.
To achieve this goal, Japan and the ROK, which share the basic common values of democracy and free market economics, should serve as the heart of the East Asian region, deepening exchanges and strengthening their bilateral cooperation. If a robust Japan-ROK relationship can be created, and a democratized China can participate to create a fully cooperative trilateral partnership, I am convinced that our three nations will be able to play an even greater role in human history than they have done hereto.
Read the full story at The Diplomat