【明報專訊】NEW President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Moon Jae-in has sent special envoys to China, the US, Japan, Russia and Europe. Last week Lee Hae-chan, his special envoy to the People's Republic of China (PRC), was given an audience with President Xi Jinping, whom he handed Moon's personal letter. PRC-ROK relations, which have been at a low ebb because of the deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence), are expected to take a favourable turn. Meanwhile, Toshihiro Nikai, who represented Japan at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, handed Xi Jinping Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's personal letter when he met the latter. In the letter Abe expressed his wish that Sino-Japanese relations would improve. It has subsequently transpired that there is hope that State Councillor Yang Jiechi will go to Japan next July to make preparations for a summit between leaders of the two countries. Such dramatic changes in PRC-ROK relations and Sino-Japanese relations have to do with the fact that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear crisis has eased slightly, China has recently readjusted its diplomatic strategy and there have been changes in Sino-US relations.