Japan hails China over its plan on ASEAN-3 summit

Japan hails China over its plan on ASEAN-3 summit

SINGAPORE (AFP): Japan expressed surprise for China's support
for institutionalizing the three-way gathering of East Asian
leaders which also involved South Korea and Japan. Tokyo has been
pushing the idea since last year, and Beijing's backing came on
Wednesday, two days before the ASEAN-plus-three summit

"Originally China was not keen. We welcome Beijing decision,"
a senior Japanese official told AFP at the sidelines of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit.

The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Chinese,
Japanese and Korean officials met early on Wednesday to finalize
preparations for their leaders meeting.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro
Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung will meet early
Friday, ahead of the dialogue with the ASEAN heads of state, he
said.

Korea would host the hour long breakfast meeting, he said,
adding that China hosted last year's gathering.

The official said China last year opposed the use of "meeting"
but preferred the word "gathering" fearing a meeting would imply
a fixed agenda and that could have an adverse impact on its ties
with North Korea.

"Japan's Mori favors this meeting. Japan wants it to be an
annual affair as it will allow the leaders to indulge in frank
discussion and build confidence," he said.

In Beijing, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday said
China wants to raise the profile of a three-way meeting with
Japan and South Korea at ASEAN with its plans for an Asian
monetary fund on the agenda.

The three major East Asian powers, all non-ASEAN members but
considered ASEAN dialog partners, are also expected to touch on
security issues and a range of problems related to the 1997 Asian
financial crisis.

"China, Japan and South Korea are very important countries in
Asia and make up some 80 percent of the GDP of the total region,
so it is a good idea at these multilateral meetings to have a
meeting between us," a senior Chinese foreign affairs official
told journalists.

"China supports the informal trilateral meeting and we have
some suggestions about institutionalizing the meeting that will
be on the agenda when the officials meet and which we believe
will elicit a positive response," the official, in charge of
Asian Affairs, said.

During the meeting it was expected that Zhu would push forward
China's agenda on establishing an Asian monetary fund and seeking
an agreement on allowing China, Japan and South Korea to
participate in an ASEAN currency exchange mechanism.