All papers took up a joint announcement made yesterday by the governments of China and South Korea regarding a mutual agreement on improving the bilateral ties that have soured following Seoul’s decision to allow the deployment of THAAD platforms by the U.S. military. Presidents Moon and Xi will reportedly hold a bilateral summit on the margins of the upcoming APEC leaders’ meeting in Vietnam to reaffirm reconciliation.

Sankei said Beijing is anxious to drive a wedge into the trilateral partnership of the United States, Japan, and South Korea ahead of President Trump’s East Asia trip. Nikkei wrote that China was successful in getting South Korea to distance itself from the U.S.-Japan camp, which insists on a hard line toward North Korea. On the other hand, Asahi claimed the growing rapprochement between China and South Korea may make it easier for Prime Minister Abe to arrange a trilateral summit in Japan later this year since the cooled relations between Beijing and Seoul have been a stumbling block.