Japan, China and East Asian regionalism: implications for the European Union

East Asia is becoming an increasingly coherent regional entity in political economic terms, and remains a region of enormous geo-strategic significance for the European Union. Europe’s links with China and Japan are especially important, and moreover these two countries are looking in various ways to exercise various forms of regional leadership in East Asia. This has critical implications for the EU’s relations with the East Asia region generally, and also for the wider international system. Similar and related impacts maybe construed from deepening East Asian regionalism, involving processes where both Japan and China play vitally important roles. The analysis presented here examines the both micro and macro level developments in East Asian regionalism, and issues relating to Japan, China and regional leadership. It concludes by discusses the implications of these matters for the European Union, and recommends that the EU should pay particularly close attention to emergent exercises of regional leadership in East Asia, most likely to be performed by Japan and/or China.

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Regional energy cooperation in North East Asia: Lessons from the European Experience

The three major oil importing countries of Northeast Asia—China, Japan and South Korea—are concerned about future security of energy supplies to fuel their dynamic economic activity. Currently all three countries are highly dependent on imports of oil from the Middle East, a region with inherent political instability. Russia’s rich reserves of oil and gas in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East offer an obvious alternative. Given the geographical proximity of Russia and its desire to increase its energy exports to Northeast Asia, there is huge potential for cooperation. So far there has been no real intra-regional cooperation and no common external policy towards Russia. Despite obvious differences between Europe and North East Asia, the European model of energy cooperation, developed over the past 50 years, offers some useful lessons.

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EU-China relations: balancing political challenges with economic opportunities

During 2005, the European Union and China marked 30 years of diplomatic relations with much fanfare. Celebrations surrounding the anniversary however belied the fact that throughout most of this period the European Union and China remained largely aloof from one another. The strengthening of EU foreign policy over time, as well as the economic reforms and new outward orientation exhibited by China have changed the dynamics of the relationship. Both sides are increasingly recognizing the potential mutual benefits that can be accrued from a closer relationship. This paper assesses EU-China relations from both economic and political perspectives. In terms of economics, it is clear that the EU must build stronger relations with China if it is to accrue the benefits of access to an expanding market with over one billion people. To do so successfully however, the EU will have to reconcile the economic and political components of its foreign policy. The EU continues to challenge the Chinese government to reform its practices on a number of issues including human rights, democratic reform, and Tibet, all of which remain bones of contention. How the EU achieves the balance between political constraints and economic opportunities is the primary focus of this paper.

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The EU’s refusal to grant China ‘Market Economy Status’ (MES)

Although relations between the EU and China have considerably improved over recent years, Brussels and Beijing still disagree on a number of key issues. These include the EU embargo on arms sales to China, various bilateral trade disputes, problems of illegal migration and, last but not least, Brussels’ refusal to grant China MES. It is this last point that this essay will scrutinise. In doing so, it will firstly present the Chinese point of view on the question. The Chinese believe that, in view of all the efforts they have made in the course of their ongoing transition towards market economy, they deserve to be granted MES without delay. Indeed, Beijing has lately put this issue very high on its list of foreign policy priorities and, claiming that it is victim of discriminatory treatment, has been exerting ever stronger political pressure on the EU and its Member States. Yet Brussels, arguing that China does not yet fulfil the necessary requirements for being granted MES, has until now resisted this pressure.

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ASIA-EUROPE MEETING (ASEM): fostering a multipolar world order through inter-regional cooperation

Since its inception in 1996 ASEM has provided an opportunity for focussing relations between the EU and East Asia as a forum for informal multilayered dialogue and building a framework for enhanced cooperation in the political, economic and social/cultural fields. Inter-regionalism, of which ASEM is the incarnation in the EU-Asia relationship, developed into an important policy tool of the EU in an effort to maintain a multipolar setting. Regional identities in Asia are at a different level when comparing South East Asia, North East Asia, East Asia and South and Central Asia. ASEM contributed to a certain extent to the region building in East Asia. Although the economic pillar of ASEM turned out to be the more important one when compared to the political and the people-to-people pillars, it will not become the basis for a (deep) inter-regional free trade agreement because of the diversity of the Asian members, reinforced by the last ASEM enlargement. However, turning weakness into strength, ASEM could become the EU’s vehicle for a more holistic approach to Asia thereby fostering a more economic and political multipolar world order. The financial melt down of the international financial order lead to the rediscovery of the need for international cooperation not only on the level of business but also among states. Making use of ASEM, developed over the last 12 years, could provide the much needed platform in the EU-Asia relationship. The author, Adjunct Professor for International Politics at the University of Innsbruck, formerly served as ASEM Counsellor of the European Commission as well as Minister and Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan and is presently EC Ambassador to Switzerland. He contributes this paper solely in his academic capacity and the views expressed should not be attributed to the European Commission; the thoughtful comments by Brigid Gavin on the draft are appreciated and the research assistance of Tilo Wagner is recognised.

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The awakening of the red dragon. China fills the power vacuum in the Far East

The paper analyses the basic parameters of the power of China, according to Geopolitical Theory. Even though the authors adopt a critical approach on some aspects of the geopolitical theory, the geopolitical analysis elucidates the interests of China and the United States and focuses on the way of which the American decision-making system perceives China. The article interprets the geopolitical role of China, starting from the origins of geopolitical theory to the contemporary international relations theory. In addition, it focuses on the current geo-strategic context of the Far East. It analyses Chinas' strategic thinking, China's nuclear doctrine and its military power as compared to the neighbouring countries and as a major player in the world economy.

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Japan’s reluctance in East Asian economic integration

Until 1997, the only preferential trading arrangement, which existed in East Asia, was the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir had realized earlier the deficiency of AFTA in terms of stimulating economic development. In 1990, he proposed to ASEAN members to form the East Asian Economic Group. Due to regional political factors, his proposal was turned down and replaced with the East Asian Economic Caucus in 1992. In 1997, again, he proposed that ASEAN needed to establish large economic cooperation with other countries in East Asia. His suggestion had been warmly responded by the members of East Asian countries. At the ASEAN summit in Manila 1999, ASEAN Plus 3 (APT) was created. ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea had agreed and reached a joint statement to form a free-trade area by the year 2020. The establishment of APT was timely since most countries in the world are moving toward establishing wider or larger economic blocs due to the failure of multilateralism of the WTO in creating a new trade agreement. However, there is a shortcoming in the process of building APT, in the minimal and uncertain role of Japan in integrating economies in East Asia. This behavior has disappointed members of the group. The intention of this paper is to discuss the behavior of Japan in the economic integration process in East Asia.

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Who’s afraid of an EU tax and why?—revenue system preferences in the European Parliament

The current revenue system of the EU is still structured like that of an organization based on intergovernmental cooperation, although the EU is already far advanced in legislative and political integration. This antagonism gives reason to discuss whether or not the EU should be granted an autonomous tax source. Our contribution to this debate explores the factors which shape the acceptance of the EU tax option among European policy makers. A self-conducted survey among Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), which resulted in a response of some 150 of the representatives, offers us a unique database. Concerning MEPs’ revenue system preferences, our findings confirm an important impact of party ideology and individual characteristics while they indicate that country-specific factors also contribute to understand the attitudes towards an EU tax. In the light of our findings the status quo bias in the revenue system of the EU can be attributed to the persistent importance of national interests with respect to tax policy.

European presence in Indonesia

This paper describes the European Union (EU) presence in Indonesia. It firstly discusses the reorientation of EU relations with Indonesia. It might be argued that the reorientation has been supported dominantly by economic and political motivations as consequences of the EU’s internal dynamics (such as single market; CFSP), the global dynamics and the rise of inter-regionalism. Secondly, current economic relationships show that the EU presence has been very significant for Indonesian economy, in term of international trade, investments, foreign exchange rate, debt, development assistance and business activities.

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Operational oceanography in Indonesia

In 2005 Indonesian and European institutes joined to start the first step for the implementation of an Ocean Operational System in the Indonesian archipelago. The system will support the decision making process for the sustainable use of marine resources, providing useful information and added value products as well as a service for an improved management of the sea with high business impact to targeted groups as public authorities and commercial operators (coastal managers, fishermen, shipping companies). In this paper the System is shortly described with its potential benefits and economic and social impacts.

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EU-China relations–an assessment by the communications of the European union

This paper is an analysis of the EU policy towards the Peoples’ Republic of China (China); focusing only on various aspects of the Communications of the Commission. The focus will be on three aspects of the relation: politics, economics and cooperation. We will start with a general historical overview of the EU-China relationship, taking the three above mentioned aspects into account. Then we will have a look at the current EU-China policy and the policy of China towards the EU. A further section will analyse the various policy papers of the European Commission with a more in-depth examination of the time references within those policy papers, the overall structure of those papers and the official reasons for their publication.Olaf Griese is also part of the Share-Research network ().

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Peace and community building in Northeast Asia

This topic involves some difficulties, one of which is about the concept of “Northeast Asia”. Broadly speaking, Northeast Asia should include China, Japan, Korean Peninsula, Russia’s Far East, and Mongolia. It is obviously not possible to address complex issues in such a broad region within several pages. Therefore, this paper shall focus on the main part of Northeast Asia, i.e., China, Japan, and Korea.

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‘Diplomatic Divergence: the Japanese and British Responses to Indonesia’s Confrontation of Malaysia 1963–1966’

While Indonesia’s policy of Confrontation towards Malaysia brought it into direct military conflict with Britain, this same event prompted Japan to pursue its first explicit postwar diplomatic initiative. Due to different strategic goals for the region, Britain and Japan’s approaches to Indonesian bellicosity were markedly different. Notably, while Britain took a hard-line stance with President Sukarno, Japan in contrast took a lenient approach eschewing economic and diplomatic isolation of Indonesia. With a latent warming in Anglo–Japanese ties beginning in this decade, this paper demonstrates that despite their antithetical approaches to this Southeast Asian crisis bilateral relations were not adversely affected.

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The European Union, the Doha Round, and Asia

Agriculture has been the most contentious issue in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, and the European Union (EU) intervenes substantially in agricultural markets. This paper reviews these interventions in light of the EU’s participation in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations with specific attention to Asia. It concludes that the offers made by the EU were designed precisely to avoid any real liberalization in its agricultural markets and have undermined the development aspirations of the round.

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Quo vadis Japanese ODA? New developments in Japanese aid policies

Japan positioned itself in a special situation among the aid donor countries. This paper presents the trends in Japanese Official Development Aid policies in the new Millennium, provides an overview and discussion of the characteristics of Japanese ODA, and examines the different views and critiques that have arisen regarding Japan’s development aid policies. The paper’s goal is to highlight and interpret the latest developments and reforms of Japan’s ODA administration and strategies, its strengths and weaknesses, and to understand how ODA is becoming a more strategic, a stronger political, diplomatic and foreign policy tool in the hands of the Japanese government.

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Transregional security cooperation after September 11, 2001

The aim of this article is to answer the question what kind of global security architecture emerged after September 11 and what functions Europe, East Asia and the United States assumed in this triadic structure. The empirical findings reveal that the transpacific security cooperation is the strengthening link in this global security structure, the transatlantic security cooperation the weakening one and the Asia–Europe Security Cooperation is to be seen as the emerging link. In order to explain these different institutional manifestations of transregional cooperation, different theories of International Relations are applied to the three cases. It comes as no surprise that neoinstitutionalism and constructivism offer the best insights into the formation and development of international institutions.

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The EU/China relationship: not seeing eye to eye?

I consider the endeavours exerted by the EU to develop the relationship with China which it formalised in its 1995 document ‘A Long Term Policy for China-Europe Relations’ (COM(1995) 279 final). I then examine China’s responses which culminated in 2003 when China produced its first ever ‘China’s EU Policy Paper.’ The reasons for this long gap between initiation and response are then explored. Since, obviously, the EU has been driving the relationship, the rationale for this is then looked into and detailed data is provided to support it. Finally, the nature of China’s reciprocation is entertained before the paper concludes that the relationship appears to mean more to the EU because China perceives the EU as only having a limited role within China’s overall global aspirations, of becoming a world power in economic terms, resulting from its impressive rate of economic growth, increasing R&D expenditure, and continually enhancing sophistication of its technology, and politically with its developing links and military prowess.

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Potential Benefits from a Deep EU–India Free Trade Agreement

Both parties to an eventual EU India FTA have agreed that it should not merely address tariff barriers but should also go further into what is known as deep integration, originally developed in the 1990s by R.Z. Lawrence. This relates to the removal of all obstacles to cross border business whether actual trade barriers or domestic regulations. We distinguish deep institutional integration from the deep integration of markets. We ask the question how one may support the other. There are potential market failures that can be addressed by trans-national rules on standards and technical regulations and services, but we conclude that the biggest impact of a deep RTA would be on the domestic economy of India if it provides an opportunity for reform. It should be noted that the paper draws on a study undertaken by the authors for DG Trade, but it represents only the views of the authors.

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Chinese medicine in an occidental perspective

This article treats the relationship between the Westerners and Chinese medicine. Firstly, the purpose is to comprehend how young Westerners have come to practice Chinese medicine in their lives and, secondly, to learn the eventual consequences of that practice on their lives and attitudes towards this medicine.

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APEC and emerging regionalism in North East Asia

This paper explores what kind of regional trade agreement is most likely to emerge in Northeast Asia by tracing the trajectories of APEC. Taking into account the underlying potential of realizing cumulative causation effects between market expansion and technology cooperation among China, Japan and Korea, it reaches the tentative conclusion that a Northeast Asia Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) might take shape in the near future despite the prevalence of polarized versions in the cultural heritage and the international relations between these three countries.

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