Historic reconciliation necessary for dreams of Asian regional unity

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Historic reconciliation necessary for dreams of Asian regional unity

By Xie Zhihai (Global Times) 08:21, October 28, 2013

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Inspired by the striking achievements of European regional integration, particularly the establishment of the EU in 1993, Asian countries have been actively engaged in the cause of Asian regional integration in the past two decades. Asian countries have dreamed of establishing regional institutions similar to Europe's.

As the 21st century has unfolded, Asia has gradually become the center of the global economy. The progress of regional integration is also accelerating.

The recent East Asia Summit, APEC leaders' meeting, and ASEAN summit that were held in Southeast Asia have attracted global attention. These events, convening leaders of the most important countries in Asia and the world at large, demonstrated the rapid progress and substantial achievements of Asian regional integration.

Asian economies have strengthened their connections and become more and more interdependent. In particular, a large number of regional free trade agreements have been signed in the past decade. Bilateral and multilateral cooperation on trade and investment is booming within the region.

Yet many regional economies are still greatly reliant on European and US markets. In some cases, the impact from outside market changes is even greater than that from internal instability.

What's more, Asian regional integration is still mostly limited to the economic sphere. Even within ASEAN, despite the championed goal of three regional communities, economic, sociocultural and political-security, substantial results have so far only been achieved in building an economic community.

While economic interdependence is developing rapidly, unstable political and security relations are splitting countries in the region. Plagued by not only disputes over islands, but also unresolved historical issues, thriving nationalism, power transition and military buildup, Asia has become one of the most potentially dangerous regions in the world. And as a result, regional integration is dragging.

Compared to Europe, Asian countries have a lower degree of regional identity. European countries have had a sense of "one Europe" despite the numerous wars that have plagued the continent. Not surprisingly, in some countries, people identify themselves as Europeans as frequently as national citizens.

In comparison, Asian countries lack the historical foundation for a common regional identity. With a diversity of traditional culture, values, religions and social thoughts, it is much more difficult for Asian countries to develop a high degree of collective identity.

For example, Japan once adopted the notion of "departing from Asia to join Europe." Contemporary Japanese foreign policy is also always struggling with keeping balance between the US and Asian neighbors.

There is no doubt that the recent deterioration in China-Japan and South Korea-Japan relations have posed high barriers to the ongoing regional integration. At present, rising nationalism still hangs over the dream of Asian integration. The splits will continue to create instability and thus hold back Asian regional integration.

The European experience has shown us that eventually historical reconciliation is indispensable for further and advanced regional integration. Without historical reconciliation between China, South Korea and Japan, mutual trust cannot be built, and regional integration will remain at the very surface level.

As the world is watching Asia, Asian countries need to open their minds, show the wisdom and guts to solve long-lingering problems, and strive to establish a harmonious and highly integrated region.

The author is an assistant professor at Maebashi Kyoai Gakuen College in Japan.