CHINA, ROK and JAPAN plant the seeds of the East Asia Community!

Picture: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (standing) speaks during

the business summit of China, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and

Japan, in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 10, 2009. On the

picture, Premier WEN (M), ROK President LEE Myung-bak (L)

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio HATOYAMA (R)

How the East Asia Community will start and why

this is epoch making

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, and his Japanese and

South Korean counterparts, Yukio Hatoyama and Lee Myung-bak,

said the three countries were "committed to the development

of an East Asia community", similar to the European Union.

The idea, which is being strongly pushed by Japan, will y

lead to a free trade block and cooperation on economy,

trade, public health, sciences, energy and the environment.

"With the rapid increase in trilateral economic cooperation

as well as trade and investment, the three countries have

emerged as important trading partners to one another," said a

communiqué from the conference. "We will make full use of

the great potential of the three economies and bring to

higher levels our cooperation in key areas such as business,

trade, finance, investment, logistics, intellectual property,

customs, information, science and technology, energy

conservation, environmental protection and the circular

economy."

Between 1985 and 2004, trade within East Asia grew twice as

fast as overall global trade. Around 53% of East Asia's

trade is regional, slightly less than the 67% figure for the

enlarged European Union, but more than NAFTA's 46%.

The three countries leaders met in Beijing to plan for more

structured levels of cooperation.

A banker comment from HSBC : "a shift in the world's centre

of economic gravity from West to East". The bank has already

decided to move its chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, from

London to Hong Kong next February to prepare for Asia's

ascendancy. (Telegraph Malcolm Moore wrote Oct 10th)

Focus on ASIA

Japanese prime minister Hatoyama : "Japan will seek a more

pro-Asian path by reducing its dependence on the United

States. It could be said that we have so far depended on the

United States too much. While the Japanese-U.S. alliance is

important, I want to devise policies that focus more on Asia,

as a member of Asia."

Noting that Japan, China and South Korea form the core of his

concept of an East Asian community, Hatoyama stated : "I want

to start by strengthening economic cooperation and then work

to strengthen exchanges at the cultural and social levels."

Wen told the news conference that he supports the enhancement

of cooperation among Japan, China and South Korea, and their

integration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"Only through deepening overall cooperation among the three

countries can the integration of East Asia be advanced," he

said.

Japan, China and South Korea agreed at a trilateral meeting

Saturday to work with other participants in the six-party

talks to resume soon the stalled process aimed at ending

North Korea's nuclear programs. "We will make joint efforts

with other parties for an early resumption of the six-party

talks, so as to safeguard peace and stability in Northeast

Asia," pledging to work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula

through peaceful means.

In the same statement, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio

Hatoyama, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korean

President Lee Myung Bak said their countries remained

committed to developing an East Asian community, a concept

being spearheaded by Hatoyama, as a long-term goal. The

trilateral meeting, held in the Great Hall of the People in

Beijing, commanded attention as it followed Wen's

high-profile visit to North Korea earlier this week, where he

met with the country's leader Kim Jong Il.

North Korea

The denuclearization talks have been stalled since late last

year and the North declared its withdrawal from the process

in April, driving the other members, South Korea, China,

Japan, Russia and the United States, to urge Pyongyang to

return to the talks.

Wen told his Japanese and South Korean counterparts that

during their meeting in Pyongyang on Monday, Kim said he

hoped to hold multilateral talks, including the six-party

talks, while watching developments related to a proposed

direct dialogue between the United States and North Korea.

Kim also said he intends to improve his country's relations

not just with the United States but also with Japan and South

Korea.

Sustainable development and defense cooperation

After the meeting, the leaders issued a joint statement on

sustainable development and another commemorating the 10th

anniversary of the trilateral process that addresses boosting

a wide range of cooperation among the three countries,

including greater exchanges among defense and military

officials.

On the economic front, the three leaders confirmed the need

to forge a tripartite investment accord early next year to

move forward negotiations on an economic partnership

agreement between the three countries.

On climate change, the three leaders agreed to work toward a

key climate change conference to be held in Copenhagen in

December at which countries are expected to try to clinch a

deal on a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which

expires in 2012. Hatoyama came to the meeting with his

pledge that Japan will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25

percent from 1990 levels by 2020.

[Hatoyama and Wen met separately in the afternoon, and

Hatoyama held talks over dinner with Chinese President Hu

Jintao and Lee later in the day. Hatoyama and Lee met in

Seoul on Friday, agreeing that a comprehensive solution to

the North Korean nuclear, ballistic missile and abduction

issues is a necessary precondition for aid and concessions to

the North. The trilateral meeting was last held in Japan in

December as the first stand-alone meeting held independently

of an international conference. Although the second

stand-alone meeting was scheduled to be held in China in

August, the Japanese side asked for it to be postponed due

partly to the general election later that month.]

✍ I foresaw this development 20 years ago when I viewed the

extraordinary dynamism, history and cultural richness of Asia

as a young journalist and foreign correspondent and decided

to journey and observe this Asia evolution. I am not sure the

same democratic development nor integration of legal systems

as in the EU will be possible nor advisable but certain is

the fact that the economy, the trade and the technologies

will flow as it never did in the history, boosting the inter

cultural cooperation of billions of people. At this juncture,

there is a hope still of a new approach towards individual

liberties.

But as stated here by a scholar : "Given growing economic

ties, there is no worry about a drastic worsening of the

Japan-China relationship," Hu Wei, professor and dean of

School of International and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao

Tong University, told reporters in Tokyo. "But there is

still a gap between their values and public sentiment, so you

cannot be fully optimistic."

"No" the the Nuke umbrella, DPJ!

In other related development, a Kyodo poll shows that 60% of

DPJ lower house members want Japan out of U.S. nuclear

umbrella

About 60% of the House of Representatives members from the

Democratic Party of Japan want Japan to pull out of the U.S.

nuclear umbrella in the future, a Kyodo News survey showed

Saturday. While 58.3% of the respondents in the survey said

Japan should try to leave the U.S. nuclear umbrella in the

future, 2.8% said Tokyo should do so immediately. While the

latest survey indicates a possible change in Japan’s defense

policy following the launch of the DPJ-led government, it

remains unclear whether the government can depart from the

previous defense policy. The Liberal Democratic Party, which

reigned over Japan for nearly a half century with the

exception of a brief withdrawal, had always put the U.S.

nuclear umbrella as the cornerstone of the nation’s defense

policy. (A survey of Kyodo News published October 11 2009)

"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Republic of Korea's President

Lee Myung-bak and Japanese new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

erected not only a milestone but a new starting point for the

tripartite cooperation," Xinhua.