The 44th Policy Plenary Meeting on“ASEAN+3 Summit and East Asia Summit”
January 27, 2011
The 44th Policy Plenary Meeting of the Council on East Asian Community (CEAC)
was held on January 27 at the conference room of the Japan Forum on International
Relations, to discuss ʺASEAN+3 Summit and East Asia Summit.ʺ Mr. ISHIKANE Kimihiro,Deputy Director‐General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Japan, made keynote report, which was followed by an active exchange of views
among Members of CEAC. Mr. ISHIKANE stated as follows:
The international politics in Asia are undergoing tectonic changes, as exemplified bythree symbolic incidents that took place particularly in 2010. The first incident was thedevelopment of economic integration of ASEAN. The second was the rise of China. Andthe third was the return of the U.S. to Asia. It should be noted that in the center of all theseincidents lies ASEAN. Therefore, the strategic importance of ASEAN as a ʺtheatreʺ of Japan
diplomacy is on the steady increase, and Japan is now faced with a diplomatic challenge todevise comfortable rules with which to engage China or to hedge risks rise of China mightpose.
Amid such international environment in this region, ASEAN concerns itself withthree tasks. The first is to establish ASEAN Community by 2015, and emphasis is being laidon enhancing connectivity within ASEAN. The second is to maintain ASEAN centrality inregional architectures in the region. The third is to safeguard freedoms of navigation in theSouth China Sea. On the other hand, Japan concerns itself with three objectives toward
ASEAN. The first is to secure ASEAN as a promising market and at the same time as animportant production base. The second is to promote ASEAN integration, which is now inprogress, in such a manner as to make it beneficial also to Japanʹs national interest. Thethird is to safeguard peace and stability in ASEAN as a region.
There are three principles which Japan should take in developing diplomacy withASEAN. The first is to adopt economic diplomacy toward ASEAN. To be specific, Japanneeds to promote export to ASEAN of infrastructures in such areas as nuclear power,

railway and water, which are not yet mature in these countries, with the efforts of both thepublic and private sectors. The second is to accelerate formation of appropriate rules inregional integration. In this regard, although it is important to engage China, now on risein this region, we should be careful not to engage China in a way that is comfortable only
to China, as is sometimes referred to switch ʺfrom the Washington Consensus to the BeijingConsensus.ʺ Japan should proceed to promote high‐quality rules formation from theeconomic perspective, as well as from the political and social perspective such as
democracy, rule of law and human rights. The third is to contribute to maintenance ofpeace and stability in this region. In view of the fact that the primary protector of thisregionʹs safety is the U.S., it is imperative that Japan should reconfirm the role of theJapan‐US alliance. Following these three principles, Japan is to formulate, in cooperation
with ASEAN, new ʺJapan‐ASEAN Joint Declarationʺ and ʺJapan‐ASEAN Plan of Actionʺ
for the first time since 2003. With all the tectonic changes now taking place in theinternational politics in Asia, it is necessary for Japan to put forward all‐Japan commitmentto ASEAN.
In response to the above reports, 17 members of CEAC joined in an active exchangeof views on the topic.