A Hong Kong daily says that China will strengthen its influence in East Asia by mediating a bitter dispute between Japan and South Korea when their leaders arrive in Beijing on Monday.

The South China Morning Post said a trilateral summit expected in Chengdu the following day will come at a time when Tokyo and Seoul – the most important U.S. allies in Asia – are locked in a bitter feud over history and trade that showed no sign of being settled soon.

Citing observers, the paper said while the United States has kept its distance from the dispute, Beijing, increasingly seen as a strategic rival by Washington, was eager to mediate.

Cai Liang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies think tank, was quoted as saying that China doesn’t take a side in the dispute but can allow the two countries to resolve it through diplomatic means.

Cai said China is willing to offer a platform and the upcoming trilateral summit could become just such a platform.