The 37th Policy Plenary Meeting on“Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Summit,
ASEAN+3 Summit and East Asia Summit”
January 19, 2010
The 37th Policy Plenary Meeting of the Council on East Asian Community (CEAC)
was held on January 19 at the conference room of the Japan Forum on International
Relations, to discuss ʺJapan‐China‐ROK Trilateral Summit, ASEAN+3 Summit and East
Asia Summit.ʺ Mr. KOHARA Masahiro, Deputy Director‐General of Asia and Oceanian
Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, made keynote report, which wasfollowed by an active exchange of views among Members of CEAC. Mr. KOHARA statedas follows:
The Second Japan‐China‐ROK Trilateral Summit, the 12th ASEAN+3 Summit andthe 4th East Asia Summit ware held in last October. At the Second Trilateral Summit, ʺJoint
Statement on the Tenth Anniversary of Trilateral Cooperation among the People’s Republicof China, Japan and the Republic of Koreaʺ was released.
The Joint Statement says that ʺThe three countries remained committed to thedevelopment of an East Asia community based on the principles of openness, transparency,
inclusiveness as a long term goal, and to regional cooperation.ʺ This sentence, which wasincorporated by Japan’s initiative, declares that the development of the community is thelong term goal based on the principle of ʺopen regional cooperation.ʺ
In addition, the Prime Minister Hatoyama made an address entitled as ʺJapan’s New
Commitment to Asia ‐ Toward the Realization of an East Asian Community ‐ʺ at the APEC
summit conference held in Singapore last November. He announced his policy on the East
Asia Community initiative in the speech.
In his East Asia Community initiative, which put the Japan‐U.S. alliance as thelinchpin, the Prime Minister Hatoyama proposed some cooperation based on the principleof ʺopen regional cooperationʺ where ʺcountries sharing a common vision promotecooperation in various fieldsʺ and ʺdevelop a multi‐layered network of functional
communitiesʺ in East Asia.
(1) Cooperation to prosper together for acceleration of EPA negotiations with theRepublic of Korea, India, Australia and other countries, and for the discussions for theʺCEPEAʺ among the ASEAN+6 as well as the ʺFTAAPʺ among APEC.
(2) Cooperation to save a ʺGreen Asiaʺ for the achievement of ʺsustainable growthʺthrough reduction of greenhouse gas and an approach to the climate change.
(3) Cooperation to protect human lives for human security through approach to theinfectious diseases and the establishment of a new framework for disaster management.
(4) Cooperation in building a ʺsea of fraternityʺ for the maritime security including
further cooperation for counter piracy and ʺconcluding agreements on search and rescue,in case of maritime accidentsʺ
(5) Training and exchange of human resources as ʺthe most important key topromote an East Asian community initiativeʺ, through continuing inviting 6,000 youths
from East Asian countries every year, and expanding ʺthe ability to transfer credits
interchangeablyʺ and harmonizing ʺthe standards of assessment among universities in theregionʺ
Although the effort to promote further cooperation in each field should be
strengthened along with the basic policy above, it is indispensable to open Japan. And it
will be necessary to make an effort to provide Japanese knowledge and experience for
Asian countries to deal with ʺpost‐economic growth challengesʺ positively.
In response to the above reports, 22members of CEAC joined in an active exchangeof views on the topic.