Cooperation isn't getting any easier

Cooperation isn't getting any easier

A conference of East Asian academics here next week will plonk
Thailand in the middle of a fresh debate on the wisdom of 13
Asian countries converging in a new community.
The discussions will show who continues to hold reservations
about the idea, which evolved from Malaysia's initiative in the
early 1990s to set up an East Asian economic caucus.

Thailand, officially, remains a fence-sitter, but its
agreement to host the second annual conference of the Network of
East Asian Think-Tanks, or NEAT, shows it is more than that.

Indonesia has been outspoken in its reservations about the
proposed new community, seeing it as a potential threat to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which holds the primary
role in the dialog with China, Japan and South Korea. Vietnam has
been less clear about its doubts, likewise Singapore and
Cambodia. But all the Northeast Asians are keen.

At the annual ASEAN meeting in Jakarta in early July, Malaysia
returned the question to the regional agenda by proposing to host
the first East Asian summit in 2005. China offered to do so in
2006. The United States, which fiercely opposed the East Asia
Economic Caucus closely associated with the anti-West leaning of
its champion, Malaysia's then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,
remains a consideration.

The backing of China and Japan for an East Asian community
suggests that they are unhappy with the ASEAN-plus-Three process,
specifically with ASEAN's primary role in it. Can ASEAN make the
adjustments necessary to move the process forward? Is there
another way to avoid relegation to the past? The pro-community
advocates also indicate frustration with U.S. domination of the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Although there is room for ASEAN-Plus-Three and the proposed
East Asian community to co-exist, the leadership problems looming
over the latter are disturbing.

Huge differences in politics, economics and culture may enable
only informal exchanges for some time yet, unless members of the
proposed community agree to liberal use of the minus X formula.

In an ideal world, ASEAN and the proposed new forum would be
mutually supportive. In reality, mutually destructive competition
must be avoided.
-- Bangkok Post