Cooperation among Japan, South Korea and China which incorporates - China into the Tokyo-Seoul relationship is being looked at closely. This - cooperation undoubtedly provides a diagram for a new post-Cold War conciliation, and as a framework it has much potential.

The first three-nation summit was held in the fall of 1999 during the ASEAN summit in Manila. China was wary at first. The Japanese and South Korean leaders said they wanted to continue to meet in the future, but Premier Zhu Rongji was unsupportive and Vice Premier Qian Qichen responded that, "the conditions for establishing a trilateral relationship are not ripe."

At the Japan-South Korea-China summit in Singapore in November 2000, however, consensus was reached on holding regularly scheduled meetings. Premier Zhu also proposed making the year 2002 "a year of exchanges between Japan, South Korea and China." South Korea is the most enthusiastic of the three with regard to this framework.

It has to find a way out from two relationships where a perception of balance of power predominates. The first is the U.S.-China relationship and the second is the Japan-China relationship. Because the balance in both these relationships is vital to South Korea's security and economic strategy, a "Japan-South Korea-China" framework is an important step.

As it deepens its cooperation with South Korea, Japan is looking for a way to start a new dialogue in its awkward relationship with China.

For its part, China's economic strategy for after it is admitted to the WTO lies behind its new emphasis on multilateral negotiations. China is seen as wanting to engage in numerous negotiations minus the United States in order to weaken American unilateralism.

The development of this framework in the Japan-South Korea-Chinarelationship will not be easy because the motivations are not the same, the political systems are different and the issue of historical perceptions is present.

First, the framework will need to be gradually developed through whatever level of cooperation can be achieved. Environmental issues may prove to be a useful catalyst for such cooperation.

A trilateral environmental summit was started in 1999, and cooperative efforts on measures to prevent acid rain and on water issues are making progress. South Korea has floated a plan for a joint environmental project in China using overseas development aid from both Japan and South Korea. The economy is also an important area. Cooperation on globalization and the opening of markets must be promoted between the three countries, with Japan and South Korea taking the lead.

If one considers what area of cooperation has intrinsic merit, it is surely in the security realm. It would be a great contribution to the stability of the region if the basis of cooperation is strengthened through Japanese and Chinese support of Korean co-existence and reunification, and through China's and South Korea's support of the normalization of Japan-North Korea relations.

Yet this is a territory into which it will be difficult for China to tread. North Korea is its ally from the Korean War. In the words of a Chinese political scholar, "(China) will not be able to exercise independent influence over North Korea if (North Korea) ends up getting along with Japan and South Korea."

If one considers this, the Japan-South Korea-China framework needs to be an open system that has the eventual participation of North Korea in sight. This will give it an even more important role in the reunification process on the Korean Peninsula.