EDITORIAL: ASEAN and Japan

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to recognize the participation of the United States and Russia in the East Asia Summit.

China and India are already part of the EAS. If the plan is officially approved at an ASEAN summit to be held this fall, with the exception of Central and South America, all major countries in the Asia-Pacific region will be members of the EAS.

Asia, with China at the center, was the first region to recover from the global financial crisis. It would be no exaggeration to say that Asia has come to lead the global economy.

Having concluded a framework agreement for economic cooperation with Taiwan, China is increasingly expanding its presence as a regional power. Some observers say a Sino-centric economic bloc is about to be formed.

Apparently prompted by this development, the United States and Russia chose to directly involve themselves with Asia.

The United States is also feeling that its influence in the region is waning. In light of its fight against terrorism, the move is aimed at allowing the United States to gain a stronger foothold in Southeast Asia, where a number of networks linked to Islamic fundamentalists are based.

We believe the outcome is a product of a sense of balance by ASEAN, which does not want to be swallowed by the greater Chinese bloc.

Japan has maintained that its alliance with the United States is a public asset for regional stability and stressed the need for the United States to engage in the EAS. Japan should welcome ASEAN's new policy.

However, if the United States directly takes part in the EAS, there will be no need for any country to speak on its behalf. Japan must be prepared for its influence from this perspective to diminish.

That is all the more reason for Japan to come up with a unique vision for its own role in Asia.

A key objective of the EAS was to find out if the formation of an East Asian community would be feasible. We must stay alert to see whether the inclusion of the United States and Russia will change the nature of the EAS. A larger membership means it will become more difficult to reach agreement on issues. A clash of interests between major powers will also likely occur.

Japan is inseparably tied to the Sino-centric economic bloc, which is starting to form. While accepting this reality, how should Japan come to terms with charting a course to establish an East Asian community? In what forum should it be discussed?

While members of the community have yet to be decided, at least there is no doubt that ASEAN, Japan, China and South Korea will be the leading players.

ASEAN, which boasts of advanced economic cooperation, has enacted a charter aimed at economic integration in 2015. It wants to take the lead in forming broader regional integration so that it can perform a "core" role.

Japan must strengthen its cooperation with China and South Korea, but there are still complex issues to be overcome, for example, the problem of differences on history perception.

In contrast, Japan has an accumulation of cooperative relations with ASEAN which it has built up in the past. First, these ties should be strengthened to forge a relationship as an important partner. Japan must make this effort if it wants to bolster its presence in Asia.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 23