By Yi Whan-woo
China is refusing to join a three-way summit among the leaders of Korea, China and Japan in Tokyo next month, according to multiple Japanese newspapers, Thursday.
Beijing’s refusal will put the joint talks on hold indefinitely after a previous meeting took place in Seoul in November 2015.
Citing Japanese officials, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Korea agreed with Japan’s plan to host the summit in late July but China was unwilling to participate.
The three countries initially agreed to hold the joint meeting every year in rotation.
The Yomiuri Shimbun said the preparation for the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is attributed to be the reason for Beijing’s hesitancy in joining the trilateral summit. The congress will take place in the fall with a possible power reshuffle.
The newspaper said China also may be reluctant to have the summit because of deteriorating ties between Seoul and Beijing over deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery in Korea.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said China’s refusal could be a strategy to press Korea on the occasion of the summit between Presidents Moon Jae-in and Donald Trump, Friday.
Diplomatic sources said Japan will try to come up with a new summit schedule after China’s communist party congress concludes.
The first three-way summit was held in 2008, and then every year until 2012, before being suspended for the next two years due to Japan’s diplomatic row with Korea and China over historical and territorial issues.