Recently, the trilateral summit between China, Japan, and South Korea concluded successfully.
The joint statement highlighted three core issues that not only reflect the three nations' commitment to deepening cooperation but also attracted significant global attention and concern.
Following the summit, the U.S. Department of State swiftly announced a trilateral deputy foreign ministers' meeting with Japan and South Korea in Virginia to promptly address and respond to the new developments among the three East Asian countries.
Kurt Campbell, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, stated that the core focus of this trilateral meeting is to strengthen cooperation in the field of economic security and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
However, it is evident that the U.S. is keen to understand what consensus Japan and South Korea reached with China during the summit and how these agreements might affect America's strategic interests in Asia.
To understand America's anxiety, we must delve into the joint statement from the China-Japan-South Korea summit.
Although Western media tried to emphasize the differences among the three countries, the three main points in the statement undoubtedly touched a nerve in the U.S.
Firstly, China, Japan, and South Korea jointly committed to maintaining the stable operation of supply chains.
This not only indicates close economic cooperation among the three countries but also raises concerns in the U.S. about Japan and South Korea's stance on key industries such as semiconductors.
It is well known that Japan and South Korea play crucial roles in the U.S.'s strategy to curb China's semiconductor industry.
However, when China, Japan, and South Korea explicitly state their intent to maintain supply chain stability in their joint statement, the U.S. understandably feels pressured.
This pressure is not unfounded. Recently, the U.S. has not made significant progress in pushing Japan and South Korea to tighten chip sanctions against China.
Although the Dutch company ASML has stated it can remotely shut down lithography machines sold to China, this has not fundamentally changed the U.S.'s predicament in restricting high-tech equipment exports.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government has shown hesitation in responding to U.S. calls for stricter measures.
Therefore, when China, Japan, and South Korea emphasize supply chain stability in their joint statement, America's anxiety is palpable.
Secondly, the three countries announced they would continue advancing the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) mechanism, which is seen as a potential challenge to dollar hegemony.
In short, this mechanism aims to establish a "financial intranet" among major Asian economies, providing mutual loans and financing support to jointly resist external financial shocks.
For the U.S., which heavily relies on dollar hegemony, this is undoubtedly a significant threat.
Lastly, the summit saw an agreement to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA).
While this progress is somewhat a "byproduct" of the U.S. promoting reconciliation between Japan and South Korea, it also indicates that the economic cooperation among China, Japan, and South Korea is reaching new heights, posing an unprecedented challenge to the U.S.
Faced with the close cooperation among the three East Asian nations, the U.S. clearly cannot stand idly by.
However, although significant progress has been made in promoting these cooperative efforts, they are still in the early stages and unlikely to pose a substantial threat to the U.S. in the short term.
This might be the real reason behind the U.S.'s urgency to convene a meeting with Japan and South Korea—to timely understand and respond to the dynamics of the tripartite cooperation and safeguard its strategic interests in Asia.
From another perspective, China's active promotion not only helps accelerate the cooperation process among the three countries but also could potentially spark internal conflicts and disputes within the U.S.-Japan-South Korea alliance.
This internal friction would undoubtedly create a more favorable external environment for China, allowing it to play a larger role on the international stage.
In summary, the close cooperation among China, Japan, and South Korea has already drawn significant attention and concern from the U.S. However, the future direction of this cooperation and its impact on the U.S. remains to be seen.
In this ever-changing and challenging international environment, how China skillfully uses diplomatic strategies to safeguard its interests and promote regional cooperation will be a key point of interest.
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