Japan, China and South Korea pledged at their first independent summit at the weekend to work together to ward off the effects of the global financial crisis and to tighten ties on a host of other issues.
Previous encounters of the leaders of north-east Asia's three biggest powers had been organised only on the sidelines of larger gatherings, making Saturday's meeting in Fukuoka in west Japan a “dramatic development” and “historic necessity”, said Taro Aso, Japanese prime minister.
A statement by Mr Aso, Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, and Lee Myung-bak, South Korean president, called for faster action on expansion of a regional currency swap system, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative, and a capital increase for the Asia Development Bank.
Before the leaders met, Japan and China expanded bilateral currency swap arrangements with South Korea, giving Seoul, which has been hit by the financial crisis, the equivalent of more than $40bn (€30bn, £26.7bn) in extra funds to draw on.
The swap deal and pledges of co-operation from the world's two biggest holders of foreign exchange reserves was “very important” for restoring confidence in South Korea's economy, said Shin Jae-yoon, deputy minister for international affairs at Seoul's ministry of strategy and finance.
The meeting was seen in Japan as a way of creating a “forward-looking” forum for contacts with its most important neighbours.
Tokyo's ties with Seoul have been complicated by the legacy of its annexation and colonisation of the Korean peninsula during the first half of the 20th century. Meanwhile, many Chinese remain bitter about what they regard as Japan's failure to fully atone for its brutal 1931-45 invasion.
The three leaders appeared comfortable with each other – a marked contrast to previously chilly encounters – and had a further chance to get to know each other at an unusually cosy table of only six diners for Saturday's post-summit banquet.
They signed deals pledging co-operation on a host of issues, but offered few specific goals. The meeting yielded only a bland promise to work together on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, despite the failure of multinational “six- party” talks on the issue in Beijing last week.
译文:
中日韩领导人承诺加强合作
中日韩三国领导人在上周末召开的第一次单独峰会上承诺将联合起来抵御全球金融危机带来的影响，并加强在诸多其他事务上的联系。
日本首相麻生太郎说，东北亚三大国领导人以往会面，一向只是大型会议的非正式领导人会议形式，这使得周六在日本西部城市福冈的召开的会议被视为“引人注目的进步”和“历史的必然”。
一个由日本首相麻生太郎、中国国务院总理温家宝和韩国总统李明博发表的联合声明呼吁加快清迈倡议进程，即扩大三国间货币互换机制，和就亚洲开发银行增值问题尽早达成共识。
在三国领导人会面前，中国与日本扩大了与韩国的双边货币互换机制，提供韩国折合逾400亿美元（300亿欧元或267亿英镑）的额外资金以帮助在金融危机中重挫的韩国走出危机。
韩国企划财政部负责国际事务的副部长申霁润（Shin Jae-yoon）说，与世界两大外汇储备国货币互换协议和合作承诺对帮助重建韩国经济信心“十分重要”。
日本认为此次会议为日本与重要的邻国之间的联系创建了一个“前瞻性的”论坛。
在20世纪后半叶，日本与韩国的关系曾因朝鲜半岛遗留的吞并和殖民统治问题而复杂化。与此同时，许多中国民众仍然对于日本拒绝为1931-45的残酷侵略行径而赎罪感到愤怒。
三国领导人看上去相处融洽，这与之前的紧张关系形成鲜明反差，并且在周六峰会后的仅有六人出席的友好宴会上三国领导人有机会更进一步互相了解。
三国领导人签署协议承诺在其他事务上合作，但没有提出具体目标。会议只是做出承诺会共同终止朝鲜核项目，虽然上周在北京“六方会谈”就该事项未做出结论。