Concerted efforts and mutual trust needed for East Asian cooperation
Concerted efforts and mutual trust needed for East Asian cooperation
Wu Yixue, China Daily, Asia News Network/Beijing
The East Asian Community (EAC) is an alluring prospect,
although its prototype and methods for realization are still
under discussion.
The establishment of institutionalized regional cooperation
mechanism, similar to that of the European Union (EU),
undoubtedly serves as the ultimate cooperation goal coveted by
East Asian countries which lag behind in promoting regional
integration.
Facing accelerated globalization and regional integration, the
two main trends of the current world from which no nation is
immune, any country or region has no choice but to strive to keep
pace. Otherwise, it risks being marginalized.
"The increasingly deepened cooperation among East Asian
countries is not only their inevitable choice to follow the tide
of globalization, but also their aspiration to withstand impacts
from the process," said Wang Yi, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister at
a symposium sponsored by the Center of the East Asia Studies at
the Beijing-based Foreign Affairs College last week.
The newly-founded center is the only government-appointed
think-tank to provide expertise and proposals for the country on
promoting East Asian cooperation and the establishment of the
EAC-aimed regional integration.
"The realization of European economic integration and
establishment of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) have
posed a severe challenge to other regions, especially to East
Asia, a region that has strong economic vitality but lacks a
cohesive multilateral cooperation mechanism," said Zhang
Xiaoming, a professor at the School of International Relations at
Peking University.
It has become an undeniable fact regional integration is
ushering in an important development direction for the world. To
resort to the force of a unified entity has also become the first
choice for most individual nations to ward off globalization-
produced risks and enhance self-development.
The successful example set by European and American countries
indicates the feasibility of the program.
The painful memory of the 1997 Asian financial crisis is still
alive in the minds of the victims. No nation alone can
effectively resist a catastrophic crisis, but the negative
impacts can be held to a minimum by a collective force.
Self-reflection among East Asian countries in the wake of the
crisis has strengthened their resolve for constructing an
institutionalized multilateral cooperation mechanism.
Through discussions and negotiations in recent years, East
Asian nations have gradually come to a consensus that regional
cooperation should be aimed at setting up an EU-style community
as the ultimate goal.
The original concept of the EAC dates back to the Cold War
period. When Europe and North America stepped up their
integration process in the 1980s, East Asian nations began to
consider such an idea.
In the early 1990s the idea was officially put forward by then
Malaysian President Mahathir Mohamad, but it did not receive
positive response from regional powers, especially from Japan,
Asia's largest economic power.
In early 2002, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi,
facing the flourishing China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast
Asian Nations) economic ties, raised the idea in a visit to five
ASEAN countries.
"With the development of international and regional situations
in recent years, the EAC is now on the way to realizing its
rudimentary ideological stage," said Jiang Ruiping, professor at
the Foreign Affairs College.
"East Asian cooperation has already achieved remarkable
progress and its prospect will be brighter, although it started
relatively later than other regions," said Wang Yi, who is in
charge of the country's foreign affairs with Asian countries.
The fruitful economic cooperation among East Asian countries
has laid down a solid economic foundation for the EAC.
"Regional integration is built on two necessary economic
preconditions: A high-degree of openness among the region's main
economies and their high-level involvement in the international
context, and highly-interdependent economic ties among them,"
Jiang said. "East Asia meets both those requirements."
Currently, East Asian cooperation has achieved some progress
on mechanism construction.
The dialogue mechanisms between ASEAN and China, Japan and the
Republic of Korea (ROK) and between ASEAN and the three countries
separately have provided an effective forum for discussing key
economic issues and promoting common development.
The agreement between China and ASEAN signed in late 2002 for
full economic cooperation and the establishment of a FTA by 2010
has already benefited the parties.
The joint declaration signed between China, Japan and the ROK
in October 2003 for trilateral cooperation has established a
relatively stable dialogue and cooperative mechanism between the
three main Asian economies. This will contribute much to East
Asian cooperation.
In addition, some other bilateral cooperative mechanisms, such
as Japan-Singapore FTA, and the ongoing trade talks between Japan
and the ROK, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as
the closer economic arrangement between the Chinese mainland and
Hong Kong and Macao have laid down a solid economic foundation
for the EAC.
Compared to economic cooperation, East Asian political and
security cooperation, the other wheel of the regional
integration, has not advanced smoothly.
Unlike their European and North American counterparts, East
Asian nations, due to diversified historical and cultural
backgrounds and different economic development levels and models,
have so far remained in dispute over the EAC.
The success of the EU and NAFTA indicate some main propulsive
forces are key to the formation of regional integration.
The strong propulsive force, however, is yet to be formed in
East Asia.
"The combined GDP of ASEAN countries only equals one-tenth the
GDP total of China, Japan and the ROK, but it has remained the
protagonist in the current regional multilateral mechanisms. Thus
it can not shoulder the heavy burden of advancing the
construction of the EAC," said An Zhida, a senior researcher with
the China Institute of International Studies.
Due to historical and political factors, China and Japan, the
two main economic motors in East Asia who can and should
contribute more to the EAC, have not joined hands to work for
this goal.
"Also, the current East Asian cooperation mechanism,
especially the one overseeing political and security fields,
still remains at a relatively loose and initial stage, and it
cannot meet the demands from the increasing economic
interdependence among its nations," Jiang Ruiping said.
The factor of the U.S., which is key to some East Asian
nations, and some sensitive security issues also hamper the EAC
idea.
To make the EAC a reality, the highest degree of mutual trust,
superior wisdom, maximum sincerity, and 100 percent effort from
all parties are necessary.