李熙燮
中日韩合作秘书处秘书长
LEE Hee-sup
Secretary-General of the Trilateral CooperationSecretariat (TCS)
问：科技突破离不开国际交流与合作，半导体与新能源技术的诞生就是很好的例证。在当前全球形势下，我们该如何推进科技创新领域的国际合作？
答：在第四次工业革命中，高科技领域的竞争越发激烈。与此同时，随着经济要素与安全关切之间的联系日益加深，科技领域的国际合作窗口也在逐步收窄。但是我们必须分清楚，哪些领域必须通过保持技术优势来争取竞争优势，哪些领域又必须寻求相互合作。“各司其职”和“共同努力”这两种合作模式对人类的科技发展都不可或缺。虽然人们习惯于从竞争优势的角度来看待科学技术，但科技也是推进集体行动、解决人类面临的一些最紧迫挑战的有力工具。为应对气候危机、自然灾害、疾病与消除贫困而开展的全球科技合作攸关人类命运，凸显了跨国科技合作在制定和实施全球性“多重危机”解决方案方面的重要意义。2000年前后，中日韩就在科技、信息通信技术、知识产权等相关领域建立起政府间高层磋商机制。三国一直在通过技术转让和联合研究项目等举措推进“开放式创新”。当务之急是要仔细研究那些成功实例，特别是在政策环境差异较大的竞争领域。中日韩知识产权局局长会议就是一个典型代表，该机制的成功运作表明，即使是在受制于各国不同政策制度且高度竞争的部门，也可以实现规范化和制度化的合作。目前，中日韩的专利申请量已占全球62%。在2023年的局长会议上，专门设置了一项特别议程，对人工智能生成的发明以及这些发明是否有资格获得知识产权进行了探讨。人类即将进入人工智能时代，这一问题亟待我们找出答案。不仅中日韩三国应坚持推进多边合作，东盟以及亚洲更多国家和地区也应继续着力营造一个有利于青年研究人员跨国交流的环境，并推动各方合作解决能源可持续性、环境保护等受到普遍关注的问题。
问：在后疫情时代，区域合作出现了新的发展趋势。亚洲国家应重点在哪些领域加强合作？
答：全球经济进入高度不确定的时代，还出现了许多将会影响全球经济的行业趋势，包括数字化转型、绿色转型和供应链调整等。而这些转变的基础则是自由贸易、多边主义以及低生育率和人口老龄化的人口趋势。虽然人工智能和量子计算等尖端领域的竞争还将进一步升级，相关保护举措也会不断强化，但各国仍亟须在建立技术标准、制定电子商务法规与网络安全协议方面开展合作。在针对清洁能源转化产业（如氢能和碳捕集与封存技术）、气候变化相关技术领域以及在国际层面应对气候变化的集体努力等方面的海外投资上，也广泛存在合作机遇。此外，在地区集团不断强化，民族保护主义政策日益抬头的当下，各国还需要成立多层次的合作平台来稳定供应链。与此同时，受低出生率和老龄化影响，中日韩三国的世界人口份额在2023年首次跌至20%以下，东盟国家也面临着类似挑战。因此，迫切需要重新评估、调整过去那种运用日韩技术实力与中国劳动力、巨大国内市场协同效应的宏观经济增长模式。此外，人口问题将会对包括教育、医疗保健在内的整个社会产生重大影响。东亚各国必须就此开展广泛合作，而在银发经济和数字医疗行业等新兴领域，也存在巨大的合作与知识交流潜力。亚洲地区有着共克时艰的传统。这种韧性的基础是通过“东盟+3”、亚太经合组织和中日韩领导人会议等各种磋商机制，以及通过建立RCEP和CPTPP等经济合作框架而建立起来的信任关系。我们必须继续团结一致，实现各方的协同、互补。最重要的是，在当今自由贸易秩序受到威胁的世界，东亚必须加强团结与合作，捍卫、保护对其历史性经济增长至关重要的自由贸易体系。
Q: International exchange and cooperation is indispensable to technological breakthroughs. Given the current global situation, how can we advance international cooperation to drive technological innovations?
A: We are witnessing the intensification of hightech competition amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As the interlinkage between economic imperatives and security concerns deepens, the window for international technological collaboration is narrowing. However, we must distinguish between domains where we must strive for a competitive edge by securing technological superiority and areas where we must pursue mutual cooperation.
“Sharing” and “collective endeavor” are both essential. While technology is traditionally viewed through the lens of competitive advantage, it also serves as a potent vehicle for collective collaborations aiming at addressing the most pressing challenges facing humanity. Global technological cooperation undertaken to address climate crises, natural disasters, and diseases is a matter of survival, underscoring the importance of transnational technological collaboration.
Around 2000, China, Japan and Korea established high-level intergovernmental consultative mechanisms for science and technology, IT, and intellectual property rights (IPRs). The three countries have been promoting “open innovation” through technology transfer and joint research projects. It is imperative to closely examine cooperation projects that successfully achieved, especially those in competitive arenas with significant policy differences. The TRIPO Heads Meeting is a good example showing that cooperation can be regularized and institutionalized even in highly competitive sectors. Currently, patent applications in the three countries account for 62% of the global total. Notably, during the meeting held last year, discussions were held regarding AI-generated inventions and their eligibility as IPRs, a salient issue in the AI era.
Not only should China, Japan and Korea persevere in their collaborative efforts, but ASEAN and the broader Asian region must also create an environment conducive to transnational exchanges among young researchers and facilitating collaborative endeavors aimed at achieving energy sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Q: New development trends in regional cooperation have emerged after the pandemic. In what areas should Asian nations focus on bolstering cooperation?
A: The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in an era of hyper-uncertainty. “Digitalization”, “green”, and “supply chain restructuring” are reshaping the global economy. These shifts are anchored in free trade, multilateralism, and demographic factors, e.g. low birth rates and an aging populace.
While competition and protective measures in frontier technologies such as AI and quantum computing will continue to escalate, countries still need to collaborate in developing technical standards, e-commerce regulations, and cybersecurity protocols. There is plenty of room for collaboration in overseas investment in hydrogen and carbon capture and storage technologies, technologies related to climate change, as well as in collaboratively tackling climate change at the international level. Meanwhile, countries also need to establish a multi-layered cooperation platform to stabilize supply chains in the face of growing regional blocs and nationalistic protectionism.
Meanwhile, facing the double whammy of a low birth rate and population aging, the three countries’ share of the world population fell below 20% for the first time in 2023, and ASEAN countries are also confronted with similar demographic challenges, hence the pressing need to reinvent the macroeconomic growth models previously harnessed synergies between Japan and Korea’s technological prowess and China’s labor force and vast domestic market. The demographic issues will also lead to substantial social impacts on education, healthcare, public policy, etc. The East Asian countries must cooperate on these issues, with significant potential for collaboration in emerging sectors, e.g. the silver economy and digital healthcare industry.
Asia has a long history of collective resilience, This resilience is underpinned by mutual trust built through mechanisms such as ASEAN+3, APEC, and the Trilateral Summit, as well as economic cooperation frameworks like the RCEP and CPTPP. We must maintain solidarity to create synergies and complementarities. In a world where the free trade order is threatened, East Asia must bolster regional solidarity and cooperation to safeguard and sustain the free trade system.
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