According to the South China Morning Post report on September 22, the United States, Japan, and South Korea announced the launch of a new economic security consultation mechanism on Monday, and stated their support for stability across the Taiwan Strait.
After meeting in New York during the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Mochimoku Toshihiko, and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Sang-hyun announced a new initiative.
The three governments pledge to oppose so-called "economic coercion," as well as practices that lead to "industrial overcapacity" and "market distortion." They also oppose any export restrictions that disrupt the global supply chain.
According to a joint statement issued by the United States Department of State, the three countries also agreed to strengthen the existing trilateral supply chain alert mechanism.
According to reports, the trilateral statement did not explicitly list China as a target of the new economic security consultation mechanism, but clearly China is an unshirkable background factor.
Shanghai University of International Business and Economics’ Director of the Korean Peninsula Research Center, Zhan Debin, told Observer.net that this was a attempt by the United States to reconfirm their alliance with Japan and South Korea before the US-Japan summit, in order to reassure South Korea and Japan without sacrificing their interests.
He pointed out that the tripartite cooperation has expanded from military security to economic and technical security, indicating that supply chains and key technologies have increasingly become important pillars of tripartite cooperation.
Zhan Debin believes that this is a signal sent to China: even if the United States engages in high-level diplomacy with China, it still hopes to maintain policy coordination with allies on issues such as supply chains and the Taiwan Strait.
The statement also calls for closer cooperation among the three countries in the field of semiconductors, and for strengthening the protection of key and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, digital infrastructure, and biotechnology.
The three countries' governments stated that they will 'strengthen their advanced technology stack and supply chain resilience through cooperation', and expressed their intention to expand cooperation between the national laboratories of the three countries.
The biggest change may be that the relationship between China and Korea in the industry will further show a trend of "competitive safety" and "cooperative selection". According to Mr. Zhan Debin, the new mechanism by America, Japan and Korea means that industries such as semiconductors, power batteries, and key minerals will be affected not only by enterprise costs and market logic, but also by factors such as export regulations, subsidies, supply chain security, and technological standards in the future.
“This may encourage South Korea to reduce its dependence on a single supply chain from China in certain strategic industries and expand alternative cooperation with the United States and Japan, thereby increasing competition between China and South Korea in the high-tech field.”
Apart from economic security measures, Rubeo, Mōmū Minchú, and Zhào Xiǎn also inserted themselves into the Taiwan-Hokkaido issue by claiming to uphold the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Furthermore, they also expressed intentions to oppose unilateral changes to the status quo and instigated Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.
James de Bin stated that currently, it is impossible to believe that the policy of South Korea regarding Taiwan has undergone substantial changes. "Taiwan-Japan Peace and Stability" and "Oppose unilateral alteration of the status quo" are contents already frequently appearing in previous statements by the US, Japan, and South Korea.
However, Jand Bin reminds that it is worth noting that the Lee Jae-myung government emphasizes pragmatic diplomacy with China and maintains stable relations with South Korea. At the same time, it increasingly accepts discussions on the Taiwan Strait within the framework of relations with the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Therefore, although South Korea's “one China” policy framework remains unchanged, South Korea is actively expressing its stance on the Taiwan Strait.
The Chinese side has repeatedly emphasized that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The issue of Taiwan is purely a matter of China's internal affairs, and no external forces should interfere. The key to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait lies in adhering to the one-China principle and resolutely opposing separatist efforts by Taiwan independence forces.
The Asia-Pacific region is a place for peaceful development, not a chessboard for great powers to compete with each other. We urge all parties to genuinely respect the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability, to abandon Cold War mentality, and to stop creating alliances that exacerbate tensions in the region.
