Dec 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso, South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meet for a summit to plot their responses to the global financial crisis in Fukuoka, southern Japan, on Saturday.
Despite fast-growing economic interdependence, the three major Asian economies have been unable to forge an alliance that reflects their financial strength and strategic importance.
Here is an overview of their tangled relations.
* TERRITORIAL SPATS:
-- JAPAN/CHINA/TAIWAN: On Dec. 8, Japan protested over Chinese ships entering disputed waters near a group of eight East China Sea islets, called Senkaku by Japan, Diaoyu by China, and Tiaoyutai by Taiwan. China's exploration for nearby natural gas has long irked Japan, which says the area lies in its exclusive economic zone and which now controls the islands.
-- JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA: The two have a long-simmering feud over a set of desolate islands located about the same distance from both countries, called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese. Tempers flared in July when Seoul protested what it saw as a fresh claim from Tokyo to the islands it controls.
* DIPLOMATIC TIES:
-- CHINA/JAPAN: Japan's ties with its biggest trading partner, China, have become warmer after years of disputes relating to Japan's invasion and occupation of much of China in the early 20th century.
-- In May, Chinese President Hu Jintao made a landmark five-day trip to Japan, the first visit by a Chinese leader in a decade.
-- Friction remains over Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and Tokyo's misgivings about China's economic clout and military growth.
-- JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA: Ties between the two states have been plagued for decades by problems stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
-- South Korean leaders have often criticised Japan for not being sufficiently contrite for the often-brutal colonisation and abuses such as forcing Korean and other mostly Asian women to work in brothels for Japanese troops during World War Two.
-- Japan says it has fulfilled all its legal responsibilities for the colonial period and paid proper compensation.
-- CHINA/SOUTH KOREA: Once tense relations have improved in the 16 years since Seoul severed ties with Taiwan and recognised China. The two were on opposing sides in the 1950-53 Korean War, when China aided communist North Korea and the capitalist South fought with the U.S.
-- After talks in Seoul in August, their leaders pledged more high-level contact, expanded cooperation, and designated 2010 Visit China Year and 2012 Visit Korea Year.
* GLOBAL ECONOMIC RANKINGS (2008):
------------- WORLD ------------- ASIA --------------------
CHINA: 4th largest 2nd largest
JAPAN: 2nd largest largest
SOUTH KOREA: 13th largest 4th largest ____________________________________________________________
* SHARE OF GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) in 2007:
---------------- WORLD ----------- ASIA* -------------------
CHINA: 6 percent 26.2 percent
JAPAN: 8 percent 39.8 percent
SOUTH KOREA: 1.8 percent 8.1 percent
COMBINED TOTAL: 15.8 percent 74.1 percent
* Asia = Ten ASEAN countries, plus Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. Data from Japan's MOFA, 2006. ------------------------------------------------------------
* EXPORTS (2007):
Combined export totals make up 17 percent of world exports.
-- Top export destinations:
-------------- 1st ---- 2nd ------ 3rd -------- 4th ---------
CHINA: U.S. Hong Kong Japan South Korea
JAPAN: U.S. China South Korea Taiwan
SOUTH KOREA: China U.S. Japan Hong Kong
---------------------------------------------------------
* TOP TRADE PARTNERS:
-------------- 1st ---- 2nd ------ 3rd -------- 4th ---------
CHINA: U.S. Japan Hong Kong South Korea
JAPAN: China U.S. South Korea Taiwan
SOUTH KOREA: China U.S. Japan Saudi Arabia
-- All data 2007, except Japan data Jan-Oct 2008 from MOF. ------------------------------------------------------------
* IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS:
-- On Wednesday, the three countries' central banks pledged to hold annual talks to tackle the financial crisis, with the first meeting to be held in China in 2009.
CHINA: Abrupt cooling in the economy has government concerned. Slowdowns and closures in export-oriented factories seen as potential cause of social unrest as thousands lose jobs.
JAPAN: Slid into recession in the July-September quarter, after its second straight quarter of contraction.
SOUTH KOREA: Concerns that South Korea is among the most vulnerable to the global financial turmoil have hammered the won, which has lost about one-third of its value against the dollar so far this year.
* FISCAL RESPONSE PACKAGES:
--------- Amount ----------------------
CHINA: 4 trillion yuan ($586 bn)
JAPAN: 7 trillion yen ($75.44 bn)
SOUTH KOREA: 30 trillion won ($20.9 bn)
Source: Reuters
(Compiled by Gillian Murdoch, additional reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Linda Sieg in Tokyo, Jon Herskovitz and Kim Junghyun in Seoul and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Dean Yates)