The trilateral summit between Japan, China and South Korea, scheduled for December in Tokyo, will be postponed due to escalating tensions between Tokyo and Beijing, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
Trilateral summits in this format have been held nine times since 1999. According to the publication, the two countries have used it to discuss economic cooperation and stabilization of the Korean Peninsula. For Japanese officials, it has been an important platform for dialogue between US allies Tokyo and Seoul and Beijing, which backs North Korea.
The last summit was held in Seoul in 2024, attended by then-prime ministers of Japan and South Korea, Fumio Kishida and Yun Seok-yul, as well as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The next summit was scheduled to be held in Tokyo in December, but the situation changed after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan drew sharp criticism from Beijing. According to Nikkei, on November 24, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that no agreement had been reached on a date for the summit.
Tensions between Japan and China escalated after Takaichi said during a parliamentary debate that a possible military crisis near Taiwan would pose an "existential threat" that could force Japan to exercise its "right of collective self-defense." This caused great discontent in Beijing, which issued a serious rebuke to Tokyo. China's Consul General in Osaka, Xue Jian, threatened to "cut off the head" of the Japanese prime minister in 10 years, but the post was later deleted. The Chinese Foreign Ministry later warned its compatriots not to travel to Japan.
Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975), retreated to the island after losing the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taipei has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the communists came to power. According to Beijing's official position, supported by most countries, including Russia, it is one of the regions of the PRC.