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Reviewed by:
  • China and Asian Regionalism
  • Maria N. DaCosta (bio)
Zhang Yunling. China and Asian Regionalism. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2010. x, 229 pp. Hardcover $108.00, ISBN 978-981-4282-22-2.

China and Asian Regionalism is an anthology of papers and policy reports authored by Zhang Yunling that were presented in a variety of forums on East Asian cooperation over a ten-year period (1998–2008).

According to the author, East Asian cooperation formally started on December 15, 1997, when the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, met for the first time with the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea in an institutional framework that came to be known as ASEAN+3. The ASEAN countries thus provided the [End Page 504] initial impetus for economic cooperation in the region and remain the linchpin for further regional cooperation.

Created in 1967, ASEAN originally intended to promote regional peace and cooperation among diverse nations that share similar interests and seek a common identity. It went on to launch a free trade area (AFTA) in 1992 and is currently negotiating multiple agreements with numerous trade partners. To be sure, market-driven economic integration had been going on in the region for many decades, especially after the 1960s, fueled by trade and investment flows first by Japan, later by the Four Dragons, and more recently by China. External factors, such as the single market initiative in Europe, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Asian financial crisis of 1997, reenergized multi-layered regional coordination efforts. On November 28, 1999, the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea, in their third meeting, issued a joint statement calling for East Asia cooperation. The Chiang Mai Initiative on financial cooperation was approved by financial ministers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2000. (In the heat of the moment, Japan went so far as to propose the creation of an Asian monetary fund.) As for trade cooperation, China initiated negotiations with ASEAN in 2000 with the objective of creating a free trade area by 2010. In addition, free trade agreements between ASEAN and South Korea and Japan were concluded in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

This volume is a compilation of fifteen papers presented at different times in different forums on the common theme of Asian regionalism. The chapters appear to be loosely organized and do not follow the chronological order of the original papers, thus making it difficult for the reader to follow some of the events. There is much overlap and some confusion, particularly when it comes to chronological events and the overuse of acronyms. It does not help that the author is not consistent in the use of acronyms. For instance, ASEAN Plus Three appears in one chapter as APT and in other chapters as ASEAN+3 and 10+3; EAC sometimes refers to East Asian Cooperation, sometimes to East Asian Community, and sometimes to both in the same chapter (as on page 6); CAFTA (China-ASEAN FTA) and ACFTA (ASEAN-China FTA) are the same. In addition, the editing is poor, from the occasional typo to grammatical errors to awkward, truncated, and unclear sentences. Basic information and some arguments are presented multiple times in different chapters, making the text repetitive.

As the title suggests, the book focuses on China’s strategy and role in the process of regional economic integration, from China’s FTA strategy (chapter 7) to China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (chapter 13) and the creation of a China-ASEAN free trade area (chapter 14). There is also a short but interesting chapter (chapter 11) on the environment and energy cooperation.

The current status of free trade areas in East Asia is explored in chapter 6 — one of the most relevant chapters. The author provides an overview of the multiple trade arrangements that have swept the region and offers a systematic analysis of [End Page 505] the different stages of their progress. (As of 2008, there were thirty-seven free trade areas, thirty-nine more were under negotiation, and another thirty-three had been proposed.) The author carefully examines various challenges generated...

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