The 26th Policy Plenary Meeting on“China's Stance towards an East AsianCommunity”
May 21, 2008
The 26th Policy Plenary Meeting of the Council on East Asian Community（CEAC)
was held on May 21 at the conference room of the Japan Forum on International Relations（JFIR) to discuss “China’s Stance towards an East Asian Community.” Prof. AMAKO
Satoshi, Member of CEAC and Professor of Waseda University, made a keynote report,
which was followed by an active exchange of views among Members of CEAC.
Prof. AMAKO stated, ʺWe can analyze how China is perceiving the concept of anEast Asian Community from three perspectives entertained by Chinese scholars. The firstperspective is given by those socholars who pay attention to power transitions in theinternational order and the second by those who discuss characteristics of different
concepts of an East Asian Community, while the third by those who are more interested in
the fundamental nature of the international order.
(1) The first perspective of power transitions in the international order is based on
the idea of “China’s Peaceful Rise to Great‐Power Status”. There is an argument that no big
country in the region should treat medium/small countries in the region as its spheres ofinfluence and that China should play a leading role in the promotion of regional economic
cooperation to contribute to a harmonious community building in the region. Sucharguments on an East Asian Community building have converged with an argument that acommunity building in East Asia must have a desirable relationship with US, which could
be similar to that between EU and US.
(2) The second perspective of characteristics of different concepts of an East AsianCommunity pays special attention to arguments developed in Japan on an East Asian
Community building. While some scholars emphasized the importance of reconciliationand cooperation between Japan and China as a basis for the community building in theregion even quoting the importance of the same between France and Germany in theEuropean experience, others showed their wariness towards Japanʹs alledged ambition tobecome a political big power in the region through the process of community building.
Japanʹs alledged insistence to bring US into an East Asian Community is quoted as an
example of the bases on which they conclude so.
(3) The third perspecitive of the fundamental nature of the international order, while
recognizing that an East Asian Community order in the 21st century could be the revival ofneither a Chinese Central‐Kingdom Order nor a Greater East Asia Co‐Prosperity Sphere,
argues that we should build an “Asian Common House.” Although this argument should
be aimed at the creation of new “Asian Consciousness” on the basis of equality andreciprocity among different peoples, races, and cultures, we can not deny that Chineseorientation is to attempt to build the Consciousness on the basis of the Chinese identity.ʺ
Prof. ITO Kenichi, President of CEAC, commented, ʺIt seems that the process of an
East Asian community building has entered its second stage. The first stage was a processduring which ASEAN played a leading role and Japan and China just followed. However,since the visit of former Prime Minister ABE Shinzo to China in 2006, the Japan‐Chinarelationship has drastically improved. And it has finally become possible for the twoleaders to discuss directly perspectives of not only the bilateral but the regional problems
as well. Being reminded that the driving force of the European integration was thecooperation of France and Germany, I would like to emphasize the importance of theadvent of the second stage in the community building in East Asia.ʺ In response to theabove report and comment, 15 member of CEAC joined an active exchange of views on thetopic.