Global Times commented Jan. 8 on the boom in tourism between China, Japan, and South Korea as a result of China’s new visa-free policy towards its Asian neighbors and competitors. The effort to improve relations between the three major Asian nations has provoked U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken to undertake a “swan song” emergency visit to Seoul and Tokyo to try to preserve the “Asian NATO” policy of the Biden Administration, of a U.S.-Japan-South Korea bloc against China.
The paper writes: “The visa-free policy acts as a catalyst, sparking a wave of interactions among the three countries. The visa-free ‘circle of friends’ has opened a new chapter in China-Japan-South Korea relations. The policy not only simplifies the complex visa application process but also allows citizens from the three countries to connect with each other more freely and frequently. This wave of tourism has taken on a distinct character that features young people.”
The three countries recently held the 9th R.O.K.-Japan-China Trilateral Summit, which concluded that youth exchanges are “crucial in consolidating a long-term basis for trilateral cooperation.”
