East Asian community a target

As Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pressed his plans for an East Asian community at the Summit in Thailand over the weekend, discussions on the old topic have once again been activated.

However, due to the lack of explicit progress and Japan's long-standing struggle with the United States on the issue, Hatoyama's version of the community is still a distant target that remains out of reach in the foreseeable future. Hatoyama has peddled his initiative on several occasions since he took office in Sept.

Since the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, a growing "East Asian Consciousness" has been cultivated and cooperation among regional members has accordingly been boosted. The 10 plus 3 summit (the Association of Southeast Asian nations [ASEAN] and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea [ROK] ) was set up at the end of 1997 when leaders from the three were invited to the bloc's summit meeting.