TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is now in the Chinese capital.

While in Beijing, he will hold trilateral talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

During the talks, top on the agenda for Tokyo will be the issue of global climate change.

With China being the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, the three countries must co-operate to tackle the issue.

Another issue is the economic crisis.

The three nations account for 16 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, and with Japan and China among the world's largest economies, any decision at the summit may influence the economic outlook for the region.

Mr Hatoyama has been talking about how he would like to focus more on ties with Asia, and this is his first visit to Asian countries. So analysts are paying attention to how he may present his East Asian Community concept.

But the most immediate issue facing all three would be North Korea.

Premier Wen has just returned from a high-profile visit to Pyongyang, and he is expected to update Mr Hatoyama and Mr Lee on his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Seiichiro Takagi, professor, Aoyama Gakuin University, said: "I think there is a very clear consensus among Japanese people that there should be concession on the abduction issue, although that is not the only issue for Japanese people. North Korea's problems (involve) three issues - nuclear, missile and abduction. All three should be resolved before Japan can consider seriously the establishment of diplomatic relations with North Korea.

The coming trilateral talks are seen as a watershed, as Tokyo is keen to improve ties with Beijing and Seoul, under a new leadership.

Professor Takagi said: "Trilateral relations are in a very positive phase due to Hatoyama's clear stance on history issue. He made it clear he will not visit the Yasukuni Shrine. He would abide by the statement by Prime Minister Murayama in 1995, that Japan inflected tremendous damage to Asian people caused by the Second World war and Japan takes responsibility for that."

With the APEC summit coming up in November in Singapore, observers are also looking for any potential consensus by the three leaders on key global issues. - CNA/ms