New Diplomacy Compass
Crossing Borders, Demystifying Japan
September 2023

Regional Cooperation in East Asia:
Citizens in Forming a “United Nations” for Peace in East Asia
Kumiko Haba
Professor Emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University
President of ISA Asia Pacific

77 years have already passed since the end of the Second World War. During these 77 years, East Asia has
experienced the Cold War and the New Cold War with all its consequences, while cooperating with the UnitedStates and Europe all throughout. In spite of all the time having passed since these events, the relationship between
Japan and its neighbors is still heavily influenced by an unfortunate history of Japanese invasion during the Second
World War. Such historical trauma is not yet fully healed up to this day. Post-war Europe, on the other hand, hadmanaged to build an anti-war community and achieve integration through cooperation and reconciliation, although it
suffered almost twice as many casualties as Asia.
After the end of the Cold War in 1989, Europe had the momentum to expand the European Union (EU) and theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) into Eastern Europe with the aim of reunification. At the same time,
albeit belatedly, regional economic partnerships began to develop in Asia as well. Regional cooperation and joint
partnerships, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN plus Japan, China, and theRepublic of Korea (ASEAN+3), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP), had been expected to develop even further.
However, China’s rapid development in the fields of economy, information technology and military technology
called forth a sense of threat and caution. Changes occurred in the geopolitical environment of East Asia. In the pastten years, regional cooperation aimed at forming the "East Asian Community" has slowed down, and after the USChina trade war that took place under the Trump administration, the situation escalated to the point where it waseven called "East Asia's New Cold War." Therefore, it is necessary to find a way out of this situation and establish
the so-called East Asian United Nations similar to the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

History of Regional Cooperation in East Asia
Historically, Japan imported many characteristics of its language, religion, culture, and customs from the Korean
Peninsula and mainland China. Japanese society was built along with choosing and accepting continental culture.
Chinese characters were introduced in the latter half of the 4th century, while Buddhism came to the country in the
middle of the 6th century. The bureaucratic system of China and the Korean Peninsula was adopted in the 7th and8th centuries, whereas the technique of compiling official historical materials was introduced in the 8th and 9th
centuries.

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New Diplomacy Compass
Crossing Borders, Demystifying Japan

The idea of East Asian regional cooperation started gaining shape in the 1880s, when early Meiji-era Japan ended
its isolation policy and headed towards the opening of the country. However, after Japan won the Sino-Japanese
War and the Russo-Japanese War with the support of the Great Powers and participated in the division of territory,
the idea of regional cooperation turned into the concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, referring toJapan’s expanding control over the continent. This means that in early modern times, the concept of East Asian
cooperation was synonymous with the idea of Japanese military expansion into the continent.
Two Japanese politicians changed the understanding of the East Asian partnership concept. Morinosuke Kajiima
and Ichiro Hatoyama took interest in Pan-Europeanism advocated in the 1920s by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi,
known as the father of European integration, whose mother was a Japanese called Mitsuko (he paid a visit to Japan
in 1967). Kajiima and Hatoyama insisted that Asia needed to form a cooperative partnership based on yūai(fraternity) similar to the Franco-German reconciliation, energy co-existence, and anti-war community in Europe.
Ichiro Hatoyama was especially a proponent of the concept of fraternity, the same concept embedded in Yukio
Hatoyama's "East Asian Community" idea.
The normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and its neighbor countries began during Japan’s rapid
growth period from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic ofKorea was signed in 1965, whereas the agreement on reintegrating Okinawa into Japanese territory was concluded
in May 1972. Japanese-Chinese diplomatic relations were normalized in September of 1972, and the Treaty ofPeace and Friendship was signed in 1978. In response to requests from the Japanese business community, the planof Asia-Pacific Economic Integration was prepared under Takeo Miki, former Prime Minister of Japan. Despite
such positive momentums, however, friendly relations between Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea barely
progressed. Instead of economic cooperation in Asia, the so-called flying geese model of economic development,
centered on Japan and the United States, became mainstream, but developing nations and the countries of theCommunist Bloc were excluded. China was denied participation as well.

The Concept of an "East Asian Community" in the Early 21st Century and its Setbacks
The beginning of the 21st century saw the most progress of regional cooperation in East Asia. The idea of an East
Asian community as ASEAN+3 was proposed in 2001. However, in 2002, Keidanren chairman Hiroshi Okuda andPrime Minister Junichiro Koizumi spoke about an East Asian community that covered a wider territory, including
Australia and New Zealand, and also neighboring countries such as China and South Korea. At the same time, theMinistry of Finance, the Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA), and the Asian Development Bank
Institute (ADBI) came up with the idea of creating a joint currency basket for Japan, China, and South Korea,
similar to the Euro of the European Union. Masahiro Kawai, Director of the Institute of Developing Economies,
and the author of this paper joined the discussion as well. At one point, even a common currency called ACU(Asian Currency Unit) was considered. In the early years of the 21st century, the Keidanren, the Ministry of
Finance, and the government had been actively discussing financial integration, currency unification, and an East
Asian Community with an aim for peace and stability, until the financial crisis hit in 2008.
The situation turned around when the Democratic Party of Japan won the elections by a landslide in 2009, andChina overtook Japan in terms of GDP the following year. Yukio Hatoyama, who became prime minister at thetime, encouraged cooperation between Japan, China and South Korea, and urged the realization of an East Asian-2-

New Diplomacy Compass
Crossing Borders, Demystifying Japan

community. Around 2010, a total of 12 regional cooperation organizations were formed in Asia, including SCO(Shanghai Cooperation Organization), TPP, and SAARC (South Asian Regional Association). Europe followed an
extremely systematic model of integration: the EU as economic cooperation and NATO as military alliance. In
contrast, regional cooperation in Asia is diverse and multi-layered, cooperative relations across regions are
intricately intertwined. Swiss researchers called it the "Noodle Bowl." In addition, out of the 12 Asian organizations
mentioned above, only 3 (ASEAN+3, SAARC, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technicaland Economic Cooperation)) consist of solely Asian countries, with Russia participating in 8, the United States in 6,
and the EU in 3. As such, Asia was unable to take a leading role.
However, the United States strongly criticized the Hatoyama administration after Prime Minister Hatoyama's article
had been published in English, emphasizing the importance of regional integration unique to Asia. Afterwards, theDemocratic government became unstable, which was followed by deteriorating Japanese-Chinese relations,triggered by the Noda administration’s decision to nationalize the Senkaku Islands in opposition to selling theislands to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government led by Shintaro Ishihara. Furthermore, the relationship between
Japan and South Korea - originally a quasi-alliance -, had deteriorated to an unprecedented level due to unresolved
issues such as the case of comfort women and post-war compensation for forced labor.

China's Growth and the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative
Meanwhile, China's economy grew rapidly, surpassing Japan in terms of nominal GDP in 2010 and the UnitedStates with regards to purchasing power parity GDP in 2014. Although China carefully maintained its economic
cooperation with the US, it launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013 along the lines of the historic Silk
Road, avoiding the regions influenced by the US. The BRI is a 100-year development plan with land as well as sea
routes crossing half the globe, aimed at the development of the "three I's": infrastructure, investment, andinformation technology. China’s aspiration underlying the Initiative is to shape practical regional cooperation with
the ASEAN countries, across South Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe mainly
through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The 2010s saw enormous progress in building up regional partnerships spanning China, Russia, and Europe. Russia
sought to establish the “Slavic-Eurasian Union”. Along with other countries adjacent to the Arctic Ocean, it also
promoted the use of the Northern Sea Route as the Arctic ice began to melt due to global warming. This route canshorten the traditional Southern Route by three-fourth and the travel time by 10 days. As China was also involved,
the promotion of the Northern Sea Route and China’s BRI were called ‘triple strings.’
Furthermore, although this is not well known, India, with its population being on par with China’s, is also
promoting SAARC and BIMSTEC with neighboring countries. It is worth noting that even China and India, now
rising powers, each with a population of 1.4 billion, are promoting regional cooperation, seeking economic
partnership rather than confrontation with their neighbors. Various regional partnerships are currently progressingin Asia.

New Strategies: QUAD, AUKUS and “China Containment”
Under these circumstances, the US launched the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - a security alliance agreementwith Japan, Australia, and India -, and the AUKUS, the US-UK-Australia Security Cooperation. The Biden-3-

New Diplomacy Compass
Crossing Borders, Demystifying Japan

administration has been carrying on with the containment policy against China initiated by the Trumpadministration. It also keeps on promoting the decoupling policy among US allies in Asia, which prohibits thesharing of China’s IT products, as well as economic partnerships with China. Japan developed its relations with the
US for political and military security, and turned to China and ASEAN countries for economic cooperation. As aresult, Japan is facing difficulties now.
While the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia have been strengthening military IT cooperation under
the slogan of “freedom of navigation”, they send naval vessels sailing on the South China Sea and near the Taiwan
Strait. Taiwan and Okinawa are expanding their armed forces, and East Asia is becoming increasingly destabilized.

Citizens Shaping the "United Nations of East Asia" with Okinawa as a Center of Peace
It is imperative to transform East Asia, the main driver of the global economy, into a region of peace and prosperity
through cooperation and solidarity, rather than turning it into a place of instability and tension.
China's growth in the early 21st century is remarkable. British economic think tanks, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), and the World Bank all predict that China will surpass the nominal GDP of the United States in 202830 and become the world’s number one. The accumulated impact of the pandemic on the United States and Europe
has also contributed to the growth in China, Taiwan, and East Asia.
Japan, other East Asian countries and Southeast Asian countries alike should shift their focus. The focus should beon economic partnerships, security cooperation and ultimately peace, rather than military tension, regional conflicts,
and the containment of China. In the long run, it will ensure not only the prosperity of Asia but also the stability andprosperity of the world.
There is a model for this. In 1975, in the midst of the Cold War, Europe formally experienced the unification of
East and West, in the neutral country of Finland. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, counting
not only Western Europe, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, but also the Vatican and Monaco among its
participants, was brought about by citizens and NGOs. A forum was created to discuss environmental and peacerelated issues. After the end of the Cold War it became the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
and is still involved in maintaining the stability of not only Europe, but also its surrounding regions.
In East Asia, tensions are currently rising. Therefore, we would like to propose the formation of an "East Asian
United Nations" with the island of Okinawa as the hub for establishing peace. Historically, Okinawa has been thecornerstone of cultural and economic exchange, and it has also been suffering from the issue of military bases. The
current policies of the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean governments only cause tension and would eventuallylead to war. In order to prevent war erupting in East Asia again, and to make East Asia a region of economic
prosperity (along with global peace), we come forth with a purely civilian proposal centered on citizens and young
people. We must establish a forum that encourages discussion while acknowledging differences. I would like to see
this idea turn into reality as a network for citizens, local governments, intellectuals, and young people: the United
Nations of East Asia.

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Crossing Borders, Demystifying Japan

Source: Okinawa Prefectural Government (2021) "Okinawa International Logistics Hub,"
https://www.pref.okinawa.jp/_res/projects/default_project/_page_/001/011/896/eigo_p1-2.pdf

Kumiko Haba
Professor Emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University, President of International Studies Association（ISA）Asia
Pacific (2021-24), President of the EUSA Asia Pacific Tokyo Conference(2017). Vice President of ISA (2016-17),
Vice President of ISA Asia Pacific (2018-21). She is a member of Bureau of Commission of History ofInternational Relations(CHIR, Paris). She is the Director of Institute for Global International Relations(IGIR)(2016-), Jean Monnet Chair of the European Union(2005-), Member of Science Council of Japan(2012-18),
now Associate Member of SCJ(2018-24). She was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University(2011-12), European
University Institute(EUI), Italy(2008), University of Paris(2004), University of London (1996-97) , and Hungarian
Academy of Science (1995-96, 2002). Her Specialty is International Politics, Comparative Studies of Regional
Collaboration between EU and Asia, Immigrants/Refugee/Minority questions, and Cold War and Peace, History ofInternational Relations. She wrote 73 books: including 17 English books & Proceedings, Editor, Co-Editors, andCo-writers, and 220 articles.

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