The finance ministers of China, Japan and South Korea said that while prospects for their economies remained positive, high oil prices may pose a serious risk to regional economies.
The ministers said on Tuesday that they would welcome efforts to increase energy supplies and therefore lower prices.
The three met in Istanbul in advance of the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which opened yesterday.
"The prospects of the three countries' economic growth for 2005 are positive although the continuous high oil price may pose a major risk to the regional economy," the ministers -- Japan's Sadakazu Tanigaki, China's Jin Renqing (金人慶) and Han Duck-soo of South Korea -- said in a joint statement after meeting on Tuesday night.
The statement said the three "welcome the efforts to increase medium-term energy supply and efficiency including the encouragement of dialogues between oil-producing and oil-consuming nations."
The three also agreed to make concerted efforts to boost their representation in international financial institutions such as the IMF, the statement said. Asian powers have repeatedly said they are underrepresented in such institutions.
The ministers also discussed efforts to expand the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative, a regional network of bilateral currency-swap agreements that was created after the 1997 to 1998 Asian currency crisis and aims at mutual assistance in times of financial difficulties.
Han said the ministers were looking to expand the initiative from bilateral to multilateral agreements.
Earlier, the head of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, addressed recent tensions between China and Japan, saying they were unlikely to disrupt economic ties between the two countries, but adding that economic ties could be hurt if the strains persisted.
If the tension between Asia's two largest economies is prolonged "it could undermine further integration of economies in the region," Kuroda said.
But he added: "I don't think this strong interdependence is undermined, because this interdependence is extremely good for both economies."
SHOW OF SUPPORT: As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan might collaborate with Manila against China’s aggressive actions, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday hinted that Taiwan might join forces with the Philippines to protect navigational freedoms, days after Beijing blocked Philippine supply ships in the South China Sea. The ministry made the comment when asked whether Taipei would be willing to join forces with the Philippines to protect the latter from increasingly aggressive activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard. Taiwan “is willing to cooperate with any other nation with shared values in areas of common concern, including maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacfic region,” it wrote in a statement. A Chinese
‘LIKE A BLACK HOLE’: The figure is about 7% of China’s reported military spending, although diplomats and experts say that number is often opaque or not fully inclusive China spent about US$15 billion, or 7 percent of its defense budget, on exercises in the western Pacific last year, according to a previously unpublished Taiwanese estimate, showing Beijing’s investment in military activity around Taiwan and its neighbors. The internal research by the military, reviewed by Reuters, offers a rare look into a slice of China’s defense spending as Beijing has ramped up its military presence amid rising tensions in the region. China claims Taiwan as its own and is also locked in disputes with several nations over sovereignty of large parts of the South China Sea and the East China Sea. “This
‘GLOBAL THREAT’: MOFA said that it welcomes the ‘staunch US support’ and that ‘China again made spurious claims about Taiwan that do not accord with reality’ US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait, while a senior Chinese military official warned the US to stop “collusion” with Taiwan in a rare one-on-one meeting yesterday, both sides said. Sullivan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, the first US national security adviser to visit China since 2016, for three days of talks with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and other high-ranking officials. Yesterday morning, Sullivan met with Zhang Youxia (張又俠), vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and China’s second-highest-ranking military official, at the Beijing headquarters of the commission.
PRESSURE: The Solomon Islands, acting under explicit instructions from Beijing, is aiming to prevent Taiwan from attending the next forum to be held in Honiara Australia has voiced support for Taiwan despite the Solomon Islands’ plan to undermine Taiwan’s status as an observer at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). The forum is one of the most important international organizations in the Pacific region, made up of 18 member states, including Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan’s Pacific allies, associate members and observers, along with “dialogue partners” such as the US, Japan, Canada and the EU. The 53rd edition of the forum opened in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, yesterday. Taiwan has been taking part in the forum and related events as a “developmental partner” under the name Taiwan / Republic of