A borderless East Asia? It takes imagination

A borderless East Asia? It takes imagination

Endy M. Bayuni, Kuala Lumpur

Imagine the nations of East Asia (however it is defined
geographically) living in a borderless world, the way a community
should. It may seem far-fetched. Can people in this part of the
world really put aside centuries of differences, rivalries and
bitter wars and come together to live as a single community? Can
Chinese and Indians, or Chinese and Japanese, or Japanese and
Koreans, overcome their long-held mutual suspicions, trust each
other and live together happily ever after?

The answer to this lies in the hands of the 16 leaders
gathering in Kuala Lumpur this week for the inaugural East Asian
Summit. If only they could arrive here without all of the
political baggage of the past, then we would be well on our way.

Not that these leaders need any reminding of their task. The
host nation has put up banners to welcome the leaders arriving
for a series of summits, and to remind them of the objective of
this whole exercise. At the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in
Sepang, at intersections along the capital's main streets and at
the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center where the summits will be held
for the next three days, the banners read: "One Idea, One Vision,
One Community."

East Asian-skeptics would be quick to point out that the idea
of a single East Asian Community is a distant if not unattainable
dream.

East Asia is no Europe, they would say. If it took Europe 50
long years to integrate into a single community and get to where
it is today, how long will it take East Asia, which is far larger
geographically and in population, far more heterogeneous and far
more burdened with old and bitter rivalries, to get rid of its
borders and integrate its peoples?

In retrospect, the same question could have been asked about
Europe in the early 1950s. Did anyone really think then that it
was possible for Europe to integrate into a single community when
it embarked on the idea in 1950? Did Jean Monnet, the French
internationalist whose vision it was of an integrated Europe,
really think then that Europe would come this far? His idea then
was simply to integrate the coal and steel industries of six
European countries in order to avert another war, a serious
concern as Europe had just emerged from two world wars.

Fifty years later, it turns out the idea was not as ridiculous
as it sounded at the time. So maybe the idea of an East Asian
community is not all that far-fetched either. Maybe there is hope
for East Asia; all it takes is a little imagination.

As ambitious or ridiculous as the idea of a single community
sounds, today the question is no longer "if" but "when" East
Asian nations, or rather their leaders, will be prepared to move
in that direction.

Europe is already more or less integrated, and the United
States is looking to expand to the north and the south to
establish a Pan-American community. It only makes sense that East
Asia should follow the same path and form its own community.

Another big question that East Asian countries need to ask
themselves is how do you geographically define such an imagined
community? Certainly the 10 Southeast Asian countries grouped in
ASEAN, plus China, Japan and South Korea can be counted in for
geographical reasons. But should the community also include
India, Australia and New Zealand -- whose leaders have been
invited to the inaugural East Asian Summit? And what about
Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, will be in town for the
inaugural ASEAN-Russia Summit? And what about the United States,
which has not been invited to the summit but feels that since it
is a Pacific country it should be included in the new club?

ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea, in their earlier summits,
have discussed a free trade area, but now that ASEAN has created
the East Asian Summit there are discussions that the free trade
area, and therefore the idea of a single community, should also
involve India, Australia and New Zealand.

Certainly, bringing Asia's two giants -- China and India --
into one forum is a daunting prospect, and having them both in
one community would simply be awesome at a time when their
economies are growing so robustly.

What is clear is that from the start any discussion about a
single community should involve the people. After all, it is for
their benefit that this idea is being explored.

Traditionally, a free trade area or some kind of economic
arrangement precedes the idea of a community, simply because this
is the easiest route. Business sectors jump at the opportunity
not necessarily because they are concerned about community, but
because they will have access to larger markets. But there is no
harm in trying to involve other sectors in the process from the
earliest stages to defuse the antiglobalization and antifree
trade forces.

In the final analysis, it is up to the leaders in Kuala Lumpur
this week to decide when they want to begin walking down the road
toward a single community. Since this is the first East Asian
Summit, it is probably asking too much for the leaders to pen
their commitment here, but even a statement of intention will
suffice to get the ball rolling. After all, isn't that what a
leader is for: to translate a dream into a vision.

Rather than having the leaders link arms as the usual photo-
op, why not for a change have them all sing a slightly altered
last two lines of John Lennon's Imagine: "I hope some day you
will join us, and East Asia will live as one."

The writer is editor in chief of The Jakarta Post.