Toward East Asian Regional Stability with the U.S. and Russia

At the East Asia Summit in Hanoi, it was decided that starting next year, the U.S. and Russia will also be included as participating states in the conference.

Currently, the East Asia Summit is attended by 16 states, such as those from the The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, China, Republic of Korea, India and Australia. Next year, with inclusion of the U.S. and Russia, the participating states will be counted at 18.

In particular, the significance of U.S. participation is great. The U.S. and Asian states share deep economic relations. In regards to security as well, Japan, Korea and ASEAN rely heavily on the U.S.

Despite this fact, Asian leaders meet with the U.S. only bilaterally, and there lacks a framework for security issues to be discussed regionally. If the East Asia Summit takes on this function, it will be useful for regional stability as well.

From Japan’s standpoint, as well as from the ASEAN and the U.S. positions as well, it is necessary to assertively conduct debates regarding the economy and security issues at next year’s Summit.

Specifically, the Summit will have to address North Korea’s development of nuclear arms and security problems in the increasingly tense regions of the South and East China Seas. Due to the Chinese navy’s increased activity in these seas, Japan, the U.S. and ASEAN are equally apprehensive. ASEAN included the U.S. for its economic and military strength in response to China’s increasing self-assertion in the region.

The collision incident off the coast of the Senkaku Islands and the Chinese military’s movements in the seas are further reasons. If regional security dialogues are conducted through the East Asia Summit, and if China’s neighboring countries also become apprehensive, this would be in Japan’s national interest.

　

Although the participation of Russia, who continues to tighten relations with China, is an uncertain factor, Moscow is moving toward Asian regional cooperation out of necessity to develop the Siberian Far East. They are also a member of the Six Party Talks, which aims to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. Security dialogues with Russia are also a plus for Japanese diplomacy.

Japan had played a leading role in the establishment of the East Asia Summit. I hope that the inclusion of the U.S. and Russia in the Summit will encourage the peace and stability in the Asian region.