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AP
Tricky trilateral: Asian leaders meet
As
awkward dinner parties go, the one in Tokyo tonight between the
Japanese, Chinese and South Korean foreign ministers, ahead of their
annual meeting tomorrow, ranks high. Tensions between Japan and China
have risen sharply in recent weeks as Chinese fishermen have made
more-frequent incursions near the Senkaku islands, which Japan controls
but China claims. Meanwhile China is angered by South Korea’s agreement
with America to host an anti-ballistic missile system called THAAD.
Things are smoother between Japan and South Korea: Shinzo Abe, Japan’s
prime minister, has apologised for his country’s use of Korean “comfort
women” during the second world war, and is sending ¥1 billion ($10m) to a
fund for them this month. In November, Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s
president, will visit Japan for the first time since she took office in
2013. There is still plenty to be worked out, though—not least North
Korea's increasingly erratic behaviour. Even Beijing seems a little
perturbed by that.
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