Studies on China and the Process of Asian Economic Unification

Abstract

At present, the regional economic cooperation in Asia is progressing quite fast and well with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) at the centre and major Asian nations such as China, Japan and India, participating at the periphery. The cooperation is refelctive of the ongoing process of Asia's economic unification.The unification process may result in the forging of an Asian economic community at some time in future. The authors not only describe the recent trends in Asian economic cooperation but also believe that the economic integration process should be the best way of helping Asian nations repair and transcend the ‘fault lines’ as mentioned in Samuel Huntington's paradigm1 and finally be united economically and politically. The outcome of China's opening up and reform since 1978, and the subsequent rapid economic growth in recent years have captured the attention of the world. In recent years, China has been positively engaged in the globalisation process and participates actively in the regional cooperation in Asia. To answer the contention of the ‘China threat’, the thesis also analyses and elaborates China's role in the Asian economic unification process. It opines that the process shall enhance China's political and democratic reforms and help it become a solid pier in Asia's peace structure, and not a threat for the world.