Global Times, while noting that China’s relations with Asian powers Japan and South Korea have been poisoned by the “bloc” mentality peddled by the U.S., explains on Jan. 4 that China is at the same time pushing for cooperation and friendship among the three major East Asian nations. “The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) recently announced the results of the ‘CJK Spirit Word of the Year 2025’ selection, with the Chinese word for ‘future’ winning the highest number of votes.” TCS secretary-general Lee Hee-seop noted that “future” reflects the optimism and determination of the people in the three countries to build closer ties in the coming years.
Global Times points to the fact that China’s Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing “recently arrived in South Korea to assume his new post and met with South Korean officials, where both sides agreed to jointly promote a healthy, stable, and upward development of their strategic partnership.” They also report that Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya visited China recently, meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and others, improving the people-to-people relations through revised visa policies, and that due to China’s visa-free policy now being expanded to include Japan and South Korea, “outbound tourism to China from both countries has surged.”
