Regional cooperation in Asia: Economic and political aspects

摘要

APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is a distinctive regional institution. It has been the leading forum for international collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region since its establishment in 1989, and has played a central role in promoting trade liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region since 1993. The important feature of APEC is to drive forward trade liberalization, trade and investment facilitation and development cooperation in one united body as its goal, and to contribute to global liberalization consistent with the international trade regime under GATT7 WTO, based on the principle of open regionalism and voluntarism. APEC is quite different from other regional institutions and integration. In my article I will focus on the features, significance and prospects of APEC in comparison with NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area) and other regional institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. I will also consider the possibility of the regional integration in Asia that aims at the collective security and political stability in the future. In this regard, the unique idea on the construction of a "Common house of Northeast Asia" by Professor Kang Sang-jung of Tokyo University provides an important and fruitful backdrop. It is the proposal for a conference involving six countries - South and North Korea, USA, China, Russia and Japan - with a view to reaching an agreement to build on the cease-fire agreement, to produce a peace agreement between South and North Korea, to promote arms control and disarmament under the peace agreement and to create a framework for peaceful co-existence and neutrality in the Korean Penins ula under the collective security guarantee provided by USA, China, Russia and Japan.