East Asian Regionalism: A New Momentum for Multilateralism?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Don MOON
Keyword(s):  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Financial Crisis ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Economic Relationships ◽  
Asian Regionalism ◽  
Asean Countries

East Asian countries continue to sign mega-Free Trade Agreements, indicating certain momentum for promoting cooperative economic relationships, despite protectionism fears. This paper examines East Asian regionalism after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and discusses the dynamics of institution building among the United States, China and Japan. It also explores what ASEAN countries, South Korea and Australia should do to mitigate the tension in the region and facilitate progress in the open economic order.

Rising Regionalism: 1998–2007

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-116
Author(s):  
Andrew Yeo
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
South Korea ◽  
East Asia ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Asian Financial Crisis ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Us South ◽  
East Asia Summit ◽  
The Us ◽  
Asian Regionalism

Chapter 4 describes the rising phenomena of East Asian regionalism in the wake of the Asian financial crisis and demonstrates how debates between inclusive and exclusive variations of Asian regionalism played out in the development of the regional architecture. The chapter traces the establishment of the ASEAN Plus Three, the East Asia Summit, and the Six-Party Talks. Taken together, these three institutions signified greater political will behind regional multilateralism but also revealed the contentious nature of institution building. The discussion of multilateral developments is juxtaposed to an analysis of the US–South Korea and US-Thailand alliances, and their resilience in an era of greater multilateralism and expanding regionalism.

East Asian Way of Linking the Environment to Trade in Free Trade Agreements

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Gyo Koo ◽  
Seo Young Kim
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Conventional View ◽  
Ordered Logistic Regression ◽  
East Asian Economies

This study examines how East Asian countries have responded to the challenges that the trade–environment nexus presents. A total of 85 free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by 15 East Asian economies are analyzed by using ordered logistic regression and generalized ordered logistic regression techniques. The results show that East Asian countries incorporate strong and specific environmental provisions in their bilateral FTAs when they share concern about environmental issues. These findings reject the view that East Asian countries have adhered to collective ideas that favor weaker and ill-defined environmental commitments related to trade. It is notable that environmentally conscious East Asian countries have responded positively to trade–environment linkages with like-minded partners. Meanwhile, the results partially support the conventional view that an environmentally conscious big country can bully environmentally less conscious small countries into making strong and specific environmental concessions.

ASEAN at the Crossroads: Trap and Track between CPTPP and RCEP

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-117
Author(s):  
Chien-Huei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Market Access ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Asian Regionalism ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Asian Pacific ◽  
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Abstract In the wake of the mega-free trade agreements, all of the 10 member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations are determined to participate in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and to maintain the centrality of the Association of South East Asian Nations whereas Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam have also opted for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. In view of divergent positions of member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations, this paper asks two questions: empirically, what drives individual member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations toward the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership; normatively, do the different positions embraced by member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations weaken the coherence of external relations of the Association of South East Asian Nations and undermine its centrality in Asian regionalism. I argued that Singapore’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership is mainly motivated by its wish to set the rules of free trade agreements in the Asian Pacific. Brunel aims to diversify its domestic economy and to undergo economic reform through international commitments. Vietnam and Malaysia joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership with a view to accessing American market, but Vietnam’s Trans-Pacific Partnership participation should also be understood in the context of its aggressive free trade agreements strategy. This paper argues that solidarity within member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations does not prevent economically advanced member countries from participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership for market access; nonetheless, the need of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar should be taken into account through special and differential treatment in Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations.

South-east Asian migrant crisis will not be the last

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The United States ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Bangladeshi Migrants

Subject The outlook for the current migrant crisis in South-east Asia. Significance Over the last three weeks, an estimated 25,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants have sought to reach Indonesia and Malaysia, on boats mostly abandoned by people smugglers based in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand. Malaysia and Indonesia have received around 3,000 such migrants so far. Seeking a solution, a regional summit will be held in Bangkok on May 29, including representatives from Myanmar, Australia and the United States. Meanwhile, suspected people-smuggling camps discovered in Thailand and Malaysia in May have led to allegations of official complicity. Impacts Amid allegations of official complicity in people smuggling and trafficking, scrutiny of the Thai and Malaysian governments will increase. Discovery of further people smuggling camps in other ASEAN countries, and allegations of official complicity, are possible. Capacity-building for ASEAN states' police forces, and ASEAN itself, is needed to counter people smuggling and trafficking. South-east Asian countries will enhance maritime patrols to search for other migrants.

Foreign Policy and Trade Law: Japan's Unexpected Leadership in TPP Negotiations

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 90-92
Author(s):  
Christina L. Davis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
Trade And Investment

After decades of focusing largely on multilateral trade rules, the past fifteen years witnessed a surge of free trade agreements by East Asian governments. Regional production networks benefit from harmonization of rules and lowering trade barriers. Yet several features stand out in these agreements—they focus on goods trade and are not embedded in strong regional institutions for shared decision making. This reflects both the divergent preferences among widely different countries and the reluctance of Japan or China to advocate any policies beyond liberalization of trade and investment. The TPP broke the mold of East Asian PTAs largely due to the leadership of the United States, which pushed others to adopt new rules on labor, environment, digital trade, state-owned enterprises, and competition policy. Yet, surprisingly, these features may persist in trade law despite the exit of the United States from the agreement. A key reason is the transformation of Japan, which began as a bystander to the agreement and now stands as one of its strongest advocates. A second reason is the use of templates in trade agreements, which can transfer the negotiated terms from one deal into subsequent agreements.

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