Author: Takashi Terada, Waseda University

ASEAN’s function is often described as being limited to a ‘talk shop’ that merely provides venues where ministers and leaders from larger states join together to exchange views on regional security and economic issues.

So long as the so-called ‘ASEAN Way’ — which informally stipulates non-intervention, non-binding and consensus-based decision-making approaches to regional cooperation — is maintained, ASEAN’s major role will not go beyond hosting the ‘talk shop’. Yet the talk shop’s value could be enhanced if delegates discussed the hard issues, regardless of whether any binding obligations ensued. Read more…

Author: Takashi Terada, Waseda University

The visits of Japanese Foreign Minister’s overseas visits don’t usually elicit much attention from the media and public unless they are off to the United States, Japan’s only ally. This is partly because travel abroad is routine duty for the foreign minister and critical decisions on foreign policy are made by prime ministers. Foreign Minister, Katsuya Okada’s recent visit to Australia appears an exception since the Japanese media gave extensive coverage to the trip. This was for two main reasons.

First, Okada himself is known for his commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as his lifework, and he put this issue on the top the agenda for his visit to Australia. Read more…

Author: Takashi Terada, Waseda University

With a crisis of leadership looming large in the ruling LDP and the elections right around the corner, it’s easy to forget the leading role Japan has played in its region. Aside from Japan’s crucial role in APEC, the move towards ASEAN+6 began in earnest with a speech by Junichiro Koizumi in 2002, when the former Prime Minister called for Australia and New Zealand to be included as ‘core members’ in the process towards creating a community in East Asia, along with the ten members of ASEAN and China, Korea and Japan.

With the inauguration of the East Asia Summit (EAS) in 2005, and Prime Minister Abe’s proposal towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in East Asia (CEPEA), East Asian nations, and Japan in particular, have been positive about progress towards a more functional framework for cooperation.

However, a tangle of regional institutions competes for attention and resources, and as long as the 16-nation ASEAN+6 framework continues to coexist with the 13-nation ASEAN+3 framework in East Asia, the argument as to which is the more effective framework for regional cooperation continues to linger.

Japan, through all of this, has pushed for moves to strengthen regionalism. But why is Japan so interested in promoting ASEAN+6 as an ‘expanded’ East Asian regional concept, despite the existence of ASEAN+3?

Read more…