China Considers Establishing a Northeastern Asia Security Negotiation Conference

The Chinese government is considering establishing a permanent organization that deals with regional security in northeastern Asia, the Japanese Mainichi Daily News reported on Wednesday.

China wants to set up a northeastern Asia security negotiation conference in which parties of the six-way talks, including Korea, Japan, and Russia, will participate. It will be the first regional security conference if established. China has been participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), but it has been passive in multilateral security negotiations because it did not want the Taiwan issue to be discussed internationally.

China is considering discussing various issues such as the North Korean missiles, the U.S. forces stationing in Korea and Japan, Japan as a military powerhouse, and territorial disputes.

The Chinese government has recognized that it needs to present the future of regional security as the host of the six-way talks. Nevertheless, establishing such an organization depends on whether or not the U.S. and North Korean participate, Mainichi Daily News forecasted.

“It is true that government-run research centers are reviewing establishing a northeastern Asia security negotiation conference, but it has yet been confirmed as a government policy. It is one of the future plans,” said Shen Jiru, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences World Economics and Politics.

“The purpose of establishing a negotiation conference is to discuss security issues besides the North Korean nuclear threat based on the six-way talks,” added Shen Jiri.

hanscho@donga.com