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 that 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 in 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 China’s 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 indicates that 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 United States, 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.

(China Daily April 29, 2004)