There have been renewed debates over the pros and cons of forming an East Asia community ever since the Hatoyama Cabinet advocated its promotion. Such debates have triggered the argument in the United States (and among some Japanese journalists) that East Asia community building runs counter to U.S. interests and that it is intolerable to see Asians considering their relations among each other in a form that excludes the U.S.
Related to this argument, the opinion is voiced that an East Asia community may cause friction in Japan-U.S. relations.
However, a deeper look at the idea of an East Asia community shows that it would be meaningful in several ways for Japan and its neighbors and that many of the community's aspects have direct or indirect benefits for the U.S.
First, there is an economic benefit. The degree of mutual dependence in trade relations among East Asian countries (Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has already exceeded the level analogous to trade dependence within the European community in the 1970s, and it is above the current degree of interdependence among members of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In terms of trade, therefore, it can be said that an East Asia community already exists. The U.S. and Europe have indeed benefited significantly from the expansion of trade in East Asia. And an attempt to institutionalize the growing interdependence among Asian countries will benefit not only Asian nations but others as well. In other words, moves to create a stable system for a growing East Asian economic sphere would generate financial as well as other indirect benefits for countries outside the region.
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