The trilateral summit among Japan, South Korea and the US held here focused on accelerating the Anti-China policy and also attempted to boost the domestic standing of two pro-US leaders in East Asia that Washington finds useful, Sputnik reported on Friday.
Sputnik reported that the three countries at the summit aimed at building a new military bloc against China and the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The move comes after nearly a year of increased testing by North Korea of new types of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, which it says are intended to counter the threat posed by US forces, and which the US calls provocative.
On Friday, the United States, Japan, and South Korea, in a joint statement, condemned the “dangerous and aggressive behaviour” of China and expressed stern opposition against any attempt to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific.
After the first-ever trilateral summit between the three countries held in the US, a joint statement was released titled ‘The Spirit of Camp David’ expressing support for their collective alliance.
The three nations expressed commitment to expanding cooperation trilaterally and raising shared ambition to a new horizon across domains and across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
Additionally, the joint declaration by US, Japan and South Korea expressed shared concerns over Chinese actions in supporting unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, as well as their strong opposition to any unilateral actions by Beijing aimed at changing the existing situation in the Indo-Pacific waters.
They also opposed the militarization of reclaimed features; the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels and coercive activities, and further expressed concern about illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
The three countries also reiterated their commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, emphasizing that the basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, and they called for peaceful resolutions to cross-Strait matters.
They also announced holding the first trilateral meeting between the finance ministers and launching a new commerce and industry ministers track that will meet annually. An annual Trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue will also be launched to coordinate the implementation of Indo-Pacific approaches and to continually identify new areas for common action.
Expressing support for the ASEAN-led regional architecture, the three countries affirmed commitment to working closely with ASEAN partners to support robust implementation and mainstreaming of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
US, Japan and South Korea also reaffirmed the commitment towards “complete denuclearization” by North Korea in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and urged Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The three countries added that in addition to the security partnership, they will also maintain focus on building robust cooperation in the economic security and technology spheres.
“We are fully committed to continuing to eliminate barriers to economic participation and build diverse, accessible, and inclusive economies in which all our people-including women and marginalized groups-can succeed. We will work to further strengthen our people-to-people ties, including among our young people and students,” the joint statement further read.
They also stated that the trilateral summit marks a “new chapter” in their relationship and the three countries depart from Camp David with a “shared resolve and optimism for the future”.