One measure of the distrust among Japan, China and South Korea is that they often need other countries to give them an excuse to talk. The three nations' leaders and foreign ministers meet every year as guests of their distant neighbours in the Association of South-East Asian Nations. Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, met China's president, Hu Jintao, twice last year-both times on the sidelines of other international gatherings. So it seems encouraging that they have now decided, as Yoriko Kawaguchi, Japan's foreign minister, announced this week, to start holding their own three-way powwow every year.
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