Role In Asia Research Articles

Peran ASEAN Merespons Kerja Sama Militer Amerika Serikat dan Filipina Terkait Konflik Laut Cina Selatan

ASEAN is facing a complex problem when the interverence of two great powers, China and United States of America, expanded their influences in Southeast Asia. Both states gave their influence in the dynamic of South China Sea dispute. One of ASEAN member states that has interest on the claim of South China Sea was the Philippines. The Philippines and United States of America military cooperation triggered China to give their responses and made the conflict resolution became more complicated. This research aim to look at ASEAN role in dealing with the problem of two great powers related to one of ASEAN member. This research was using qualitative method. The research used the concept of the role of international organization. Analysis was conducted by using data interpretation on literature review.

Identity regionalism and English as an ASEAN lingua franca

Abstract The ASEAN Charter refers to English as the “working language of ASEAN,” a situation different from the EU that has a multiplicity of official and working languages. It has been argued that English, as a foreign “working language,” does not have an emotive value to it as it has merely a functional role. This, however, may change as many people in ASEAN speak a particular variety of English, especially those from countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Brunei. Even in countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, which had not been colonised by the British, many learn English today and see it as vital for survival in many domains and especially with the forming of the ASEAN community and ASEAN integration. This ASEAN English is different from the many varieties in the region in that it does not possess the national and ethnic characteristics that varieties do. ASEAN English appears to possess its own characteristic features, often with an avoidance of features that are found in national varieties to aid mutual understanding between members who come from different ASEAN societies. This paper examines informal interactions between ASEAN speakers from the Asian Corpus of English. It analyses the features that create rapport and illustrates that ELF has an emotive value and does not merely play a functional role in ASEAN.

HETEROGENEITY OF SENTIMENT RISK IN MALAYSIAN STOCK MARKET

Behavioral risks including investor sentiment plays an important roles in Asia’s stock market behaviors but theoretically and empirically not well understood in traditional conditional means statistic partly due to its heterogeneity roles. In contrast to the existing studies, this paper examine the heterogeneity roles of investor sentiment proxies (i.e. CSI, BCS, and FKLI) in influencing various aggregate stock market indices in Malaysia. The proposed sentiment proxies relation to stock returns are statistically analyzed using mean-based (OLS) and quantile based (QR) regression methods to uncover the relationships accross full range of stock market returns conditional distributions. In the analysis, we examine the possible multidimensional association of various conditional of sentiments (i.e. average, sentiment states, market states, and interaction between sentiment and market states) on size (i.e. big firms vs. small firms) and industry (i.e. defensive vs. speculative) segmented data. The OLS analysis does not provides conclusive significant association of sentiment to returns but the QR analysis reveal emerging patterns of sentiment heterogeneity roles. Specifically, the QR analysis reveal an asymmetric association between sentiment to returns with U-curve pattern from negative magnitude in the lower quantiles and positive magnitude in the upper quantiles. The findings not only consistent with the current hypothesis that sentiment risk is strongly affected the small firms and speculative industry but also the big firms. The sentiment-return associations are statistically significant in extreme lower quantiles and in extreme upper quantiles of return distributions. These patterns are consistent with theoretical postulates of prospect theory and evidence of assymetric overreaction of Asia investors to sentiment news. Overall, the findings from this paper provides new insights for theoretical understanding and practical application of sentiment risk in stock market.

Japan and the Asia-Pacific in the 1970s: From an economic to a ‘heart-to-heart’ relationship

AbstractThis article deals with the relationships Japan has built in the Asia-Pacific region in the aftermath of decolonization. In post-war historic studies, the emphasis has been on issues such as paying reparations and providing economic assistance as Japan's means of rising to become a world power, at least from an economic point of view. The article explores, from a historical perspective, Japan's efforts with regard to development aid, but focuses on its transition to taking a more active role in Asia. This became more evident from the mid-1970s, when some crucial events related to the Cold War altered the the balance of power in the world. Hence, it investigates how Japan faced and took advantage of the situation in this area, and how it modified its approach to providing foreign assistance to Southeast Asia. Finally, it meditates upon the meaning of the Fukuda Doctrine as an enhancement of Tokyo's regional policy.

A New Geography of Knowledge in the Electronics Industry? Asia's Role in Global Innovation Networks

Political debates about globalization are focused on offshore outsourcing of manufacturing and services. But these debates neglect an important change in the geography of knowledge -- the emergence of global innovation networks (GINs) that integrate dispersed engineering, product development, and research activities across geographic borders. This new form of global corporate networking poses new challenges and opportunities for policy-relevant research on globalization. The challenge is to trace and decipher the increasingly complex forms of these networks, which have expanded well beyond the traditional centers of the global economy in the United States, the EU, and Japan.An equally important challenge is to identify the drivers and impacts of these global networks, which are pushing interdependence among national economies and their innovation systems to historically unprecedented levels. Global corporations construct GINs as they seek to increase their return on investment and penetrate high-growth emerging markets. Although governments until recently have been only marginal players, the global economic recession has forced them to redefine and increase their involvement.At the same time, the study of GINs provides a powerful tool for sharpening the research agenda of international economics, economic geography, and international relations (and its most recent offspring, global studies) and for developing new policy responses.The spread of GINs has intensified technology-based global competition, brutally exposing structural deficiencies of current learning and innovation strategies at the firm level and technology policy at the industry level. However, many of these debates are focused on the leading large economies, and the main concern is how to foster breakthrough innovations that can support technology leadership. This monograph draws on a unique database of GINs in the electronics industry to explore the GINs’ drivers and impacts. It specifically highlights Asia’s role and discusses how integration of Asian firms into these networks affects learning, capability formation, and innovation.The argument of this study can be summarized as follows:First, the emergence of GINs is currently taking place, and is not merely something that can be expected to occur in the future. In fact, we are now in the middle of a rapid expansion of these networks. The main driver of these networks is outsourcing, which draws on the relentless slicing and dicing (“modularization”) of engineering, development, and research. This process is complex, involving multiple actors and firms of different size, and has resulted in a diversity of networking strategies and network architectures. This study highlights the systemic nature of the forces that are driving and enabling the geographical dispersion of innovation networks. Second, GINs have expanded well beyond the traditional high-tech regions in the United States, the EU, and Japan. There are now multiple locations for innovation, and even lower-order or less developed centers can still be sources of innovation. Asia’s role in these networks, formerly quite minor, is increasing. The resurgence of China and India as important markets and production sites plays an important role in that increase. The speed of learning in some of the new Asian innovation offshoring hubs is impressive, giving rise to increasingly broad-based portfolios of innovative capabilities. However, the new geography of knowledge is not a flatter world. Instead, the offshoring of research and development (RD 2) Asian firms now must increase RD and 3) integration into diverse networks of production and innovation provide new opportunities for “technology diversification” as a complementary alternative to “technology leadership” strategies that is within the reach of Asian emerging economies.Future research needs to address the potentially game-changing impact of the current breakdown of the financial system and the resultant collapse of international trade and investment. There are now clear signs that Asia’s prospects for investment and employment are grim and that demand and GDP growth will slow down significantly. It is unclear at this stage, however, how this will affect Asia’s innovative capacity and its response to the emerging new geography of knowledge. Future research thus needs to explore whether the crisis will facilitate or disrupt Asia’s integration into global networks of production and innovation.

ADVANCING ASEAN HUMAN RIGHTS NORMS THROUGH EXTERNAL RELATIONS: CAPACITY, ADVANTAGES, AND THE POTENTIAL FOR EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE

The gradual development of human rights norms in ASEAN has been discussed until recently. As before the human rights provisions were formally enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, many experts have shared their views on how such norms should ideally be formulated and how to use the institutional approach in the promotion and protection of human rights in Southeast Asia region.This paper mainly discusses about the role of ASEAN’s external relations to advance the ASEAN human rights norms. On the more specific topic, this paper analyzes ASEAN’s capacity to bring human rights agenda in its external relations and also analyzes the advantages that can be gained from such activities. Based on the assumption that cooperation naturally opens the room for external influences, this paper also studies whether ASEAN’s external relations on human rights issues are potential for external interference.

Two World Wars Are Converging—the War on Nature and the War of Resentment

New Perspectives QuarterlyVolume 33, Issue 1 p. 32-36 Original Articles Two World Wars Are Converging—the War on Nature and the War of Resentment CHANDRAN NAIR, CHANDRAN NAIR Founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), an independent pan-Asian think tank providing content rich and intellectually challenging executive education from an Asian worldview. He is the author of Consumptionomics: Asia's Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet.Search for more papers by this author CHANDRAN NAIR, CHANDRAN NAIR Founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), an independent pan-Asian think tank providing content rich and intellectually challenging executive education from an Asian worldview. He is the author of Consumptionomics: Asia's Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet.Search for more papers by this author First published: 27 January 2016 https://doi.org/10.1111/npqu.12021AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume33, Issue1January 2016Pages 32-36 RelatedInformation

The Mind(s) of China: Don’t Deeds Speak Louder Than Words?

Asian Perspective 40 (2016), 753-757 BOOK REVIEW ESSAY The Mind(s) of China: Don't Deeds Speak Louder Than Words? Walter C. Clemens Jr. Christopher A. Ford. China Looks at the West: Identity, Global Ambitions, and the Future ofSino-American Relations. Lex­ ington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. Fred Dallmayr and Zhao Tingyang, eds. Contemporary Chinese Political Thought: Debates and Perspectives. Lexington: Uni­ versity Press of Kentucky, 2012. Ren Xiao. “Ideas Change Matters: China’s Practices and the East Asian Peace.” Asian Perspective, vol. 40, no. 2 (2016), pp. 329-355. Seok-Hyun Hong. “Bring the Tigers into the Trees: The Rise of China and the Future American Role in Asia.” Global Asia, vol. 11, no. 1 (Spring 2016), pp. 63-69. Recognizing the importance to world peace of China's relations with the United States, it is natural to ask how each side views its place in the world and its relationship with the other great power. The daily news confirms that US leaders disagree with each other on these questions. Learning about China’s mind or minds is more difficult. The less outsiders know about an authoritarian political sys­ tem, the more they are tempted to assume that the system not only speaks with one voice but also thinks in some uniform way. But as time passes and revelations from inside the system appear, we often see that ostensible uniformity masks internal complexity and even discord. Thus, Nikita Khrushchev’s Cuba missile gambit and John F. Kennedy’s response were shaped not only by a strate­ gic logic but also by bureaucratic routines and partisan/factional 753 754 The Mind(s) of China political struggles (Allison and Zelikow 1999). Probably every large polity will experience similar influences on policymaking and implementation. The personal ambitions and propensities of top leaders will also shape both politics and policy. Thus, the Great Helmsman Mao Zedong faced strong challenges from rivals such as Lin Biao and more muted disagreement by Zhou Enlai and others.1 Given the epistemological problems, outsiders must hesitate before assuming that a top leader’s preferences are backed by his entourage and public. Indeed, Christopher Ford devotes the first three chapters of China Looks at the West to “the challenges of Sinological epistemology.” Ford’s response to these challenges is to focus on official Chinese statements to see what they reveal about official attitudes and policies. Mutual understanding is also complicated by linguistics. Words such as democracy can carry very different meanings in different languages and contexts. Going back more than a century, Ford shows how democracy and the US model meant something different for Sun Yat-sen and other Chinese leaders from what US leaders and citizens understood. Looking beyond officially sanctioned statements, the diversity of Chinese perspectives is manifest in the debates and perspec­ tives recorded in Contemporary Chinese Political Thought. This anthology, edited by Fred Dallmayr and Zhao Tingyang, contains deep analyses by academics in Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Aus­ tralia, and the United States. The nuanced views presented here are epitomized in Zhao Tingyang’s chapter, “All-Under-Heaven and Methodological Relationism: An Old Story and New World Peace.” Here, and elsewhere, Chinese authors demonstrate their familiarity with Western writings and criticisms of Chinese poli­ cies. Western sinologists also demonstrate their knowledge of Chinese perspectives, but relatively few Western political analysts can use Chinese language sources. Having studied Chinese language sources and met with many Chinese leaders and military analysts, veteran US sinologist Michael Pillsbury warns that Chinese elites are rather united in support of a hundred-year marathon to replace the United States as world hegemon.2 Ford’s book, however, shows this view to be Walter C. Clemens Jr. 755 an oversimplification. China has been of at least two minds about the United States, he writes. He calls these two strands of Chinese thought “aspirational” (positive, emulative) and “oppositional.”3 Since the time of Deng Xiaoping, Chinese politicians and political writers have agreed that China is rising, but they have disagreed on whether—and when—China’s ascent portends armed conflict with the United States. The more that Chinese president Xi Jinping represses dissent and pushes to mobilize the country’s...

ASEAN Economic Community and Small-Medium Enterprises: An English School Perspective

Accounting for 30-60% of GDP of ASEAN member states and the largest source of employment for all economic actors, small medium enterprises is a very important economic actor in Southeast Asia. The SME sector in ASEAN, however, is confronted with a wide-range of structural, financial and other challenges, among which are limited access to finance, technologies and markets. ASEAN has many important roles in developing SMEs. ASEAN institutions can guide, direct, and fund many development programmes related to SMEs. Moreover, AEC, a new set of regional liberalization package, will have important consequences to SMEs’ growth in the ASEAN member states. Therefore this paper will ask the impact of AEC to SMEs in ASEAN member states using English School Theory. It also asks the role of ASEAN in promoting SME development toward AEC. In this paper, interview and content analysis will do as the main data source. This paper concluded that ASEAN has developed a comprehensive empowerment plan through Strategic Action Plan for ASEAN SME Development but lack of coordination between ASEAN institutions has hindered the full implementation of the plan.

ASIA AS A KNOWLEDGE PRODUCER IN THE WORLD

For the past few years many IR scholars focused mainly on the question in what way the rise of Asia could infl uence the post-bipolar world order and world economic system. However with all due attention to the international economic and political transformations, which followed Asia’s rise, IR studies paid little attention to the gap between rising economic and to some extent political role of Asia in the world system and still Western-dominated production of new technological and humanitarian knowledge. This article analyses in the comparative way three efforts to bridge this gap. The fi rst one is an effort to build up an indigenous discourse about Asia. The second refers to the discussion about the possibilities to develop a non-Western IR theory. The third one is connected with the rise of Asian think tanks and universities.

Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea: Navigating Rough Waters

1. Introduction: Unknotting Tangled Lines in the South China Sea Dispute Jing Huang and Sharinee Jagtiani PART I: ORIGINS 2. Origins of the South China Sea Disputes Nguyen Thi Lan Anh PART II: LEGAL DIMENSIONS 3. Setting Aside Disputes and pursuing Joint Development' at Crossroads in South China Sea Zhang Xinjun 4. The Philippines v. China Case and the South China Sea Disputes Robert Beckman PART III: THE ROLE OF ASEAN: CHALLENGES AND CHOICES 5. ASEAN's Position on the South China Sea and Implications for Regional Peace and Security Heng Yee Kuang 6. A Critical Assessment of ASEAN's Diplomacy Regarding the South China Sea Walter Lohman PART IV: REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES 7. Taiwan in the South China Sea Disputes: Policies and Prospects Katherine Tseng 8. Philippines Approaches to the South China Sea Disputes: International arbitration and the challenges of a rule-based regime Angelo A. Jimenez PART V 9. The United States, China, and Cooperation in the South China Sea Patrick Cronin 10. The South China Sea Disputes: Whither A Solution? Yang Fang Conclusion Harmony from Disunity: Core Issues and Opportunities in the South China Sea Andrew Billo

Ooi Kee Beng. The Eurasian Core and Its Edges: Dialogues with Wang Gungwu on the History of the World. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2014, 254p.

The Eurasian Core and Its Edges: Dialogues with Wang Gungwu on the History of the WorldOOI KEE BENGSingapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2014, 254p.Scholars from, or based in, Europe, North America, or Australia have shaped most of the writing on world history over the past half century. Few Asians have taken up the challenge of examining the forces and developments, contacts and collisions, connecting and shaping the world's societies over the centuries. Although it has a somewhat limited focus (mostly Eurasia) and emphasizes the Big Picture rather than details, this innovative book illuminates the always interesting thoughts of a prominent Singapore-based Malaysian scholar, Wang Gungwu, and adds a new and largely Asian perspective through a dialogue with a younger Malaysian historian also working in Singapore, Ooi Kee Beng. In a series of interviews in 2013 the author, Ooi, skillfully posed thoughtful questions to Wang and compiled their extended conversations into this unconventional but intriguing book. The collaboration, which is loosely organized thematically rather than chronologically, should be of interest to specialists on world, European, Indian, Southeast Asian, and especially Central Asian and Chinese history. The result is like a rewarding and intellectually exciting graduate school seminar with a master historian bringing together his vast knowledge to ponder the broad structure of world history over several millennia.Few historians are more qualified to explore and identify some of the main themes of such a vast topic. Wang Gungwu is one of the most outstanding, prolific, and wide-ranging historians of our generation. His life and career have spanned the tumultuous transition from Western colonialism through World War II, decolonization, the Cold War, and the multipolar world of today. His background is exceptionally cosmopolitan. Born in 1930 in colonial Indonesia to an ethnic Chinese family and raised in British Malaya, Wang was educated at the University of Malaya in Singapore (BA, MA) and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London (Ph.D.) before his highly successful academic and administrative career at the University of Malaya (History Department Head), Australian National University (Professor and Head of Far Eastern History and Director, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies), Hong Kong University (Vice Chancellor), and National University of Singapore (University Professor). His travels and sojourns have also taken him to many countries around the world. This reviewer first met Wang in the mid-1960s at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, where Wang had helped build a globalized History Department with a multinational faculty offering courses on both Southeast Asia and various world regions, a harbinger of the cosmopolitan approach he would demonstrate in some of his writings, including this book. Wang's numerous books and articles examine diverse topics but especially China's pre-modern and modern history and politics, Chinese migrations and the resulting diaspora (a concept he dislikes), Malaysian and Singapore history and society, political and economic relations among Asian societies, and Asia's role in world history.The book is structured around several key themes that Wang believes were major factors in the broader history of Eurasia, which he identifies (along with North Africa) as the canvas where most of world history was made. This view does not conflict with a lot of Western historical writing on the subject, which also (in the reviewer's mind, wrongly) devalues Africa and the Americas prior to the past few centuries, but Wang places stronger emphasis on Central Asia and China. Wang views Eurasia as a vast core of irrepressible power and several coastal edges (some historians might use the term fringes)-the agrarian-based west (Europe), south (India), and east (China)-connected by Central Asian horse-riding pastoral nomadic societies whose interaction, friendly or hostile, with inland-looking states to the west and east fostered the emergence of European and Chinese civilizations. …

Housewife, 'Gold Miss,' and Equal: The Evolution of Educated Women's Role in Asia and the U.S.

The fraction of U.S. college graduate women who ever marry has increased relative to less educated women since the mid-1970s. In contrast, college graduate women in developed Asian countries have had decreased rates of marriage, so much so that the term “Gold Misses” has been coined to describe them. This paper argues that the interaction of rapid economic growth in Asia combined with the intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes causes the “Gold Miss” phenomenon. I present a simple dynamic model then test its implications using U.S. and Asian data on marriage and time use.

Housewife, “gold miss,” and equal: the evolution of educated women’s role in Asia and the U.S.

Housewife, “gold miss,” and equal: the evolution of educated women’s role in Asia and the U.S.

INDONESIA’S LEADERSHIP ROLE IN ASEAN: HISTORY AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Indonesia is perceived as a natural de facto leader of the International Organization of ASEAN since its establishment in 1967. Myriad factors have contributed towards this highly regarded position in ASEAN, including its persistence towards measures of regionalism, hence positioning ASEAN at the central core of Indonesia’s foreign policies throughout the years. As one of the founding members of ASEAN, key past foreign policies have reflected an intention to shape the organization in a manner most ideal for Indonesia. Thus it is crucial to further understand in what nature and to what extent has Indonesia led ASEAN in the past, and what are Indonesia’s prospects in leading ASEAN with the change of presidency that the state faces now. Based on those questions, the paper explores Indonesia’s leadership role in ASEAN with focus upon Indonesia’s historical role in conflict management correlated with ASEAN member states, and its capacity in architecting contemporary ASEAN institutions. It argues Indonesia’s active ad hoc diplomacy in settling various security issues related to the territorial disputes over the Preah Vihear Temple between Cambodia and Thailand, and tensions in the South China Sea. It further argues Indonesia’s vital role in establishing key institutions and norms including the ASEAN Political and Security Community and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. Finally the paper focuses on Indonesia’s ostensible rise, and its prospects in continuing its ASEAN leadership role under the newly elected Joko Widodo, pertinent towards the G20 and policy to reassure neighboring states of its non-belligerent rise. Keywords: Indonesia; ASEAN; Regionalism; Leadership; Institutionalism; Southeast Asia

Asia and Africa during Decolonization

The section assesses the processes of decolonization and the emergence of independent states in the second half of the XX century. A detailed analysis of the roots of decolonization and the nature of this process makes it possible to draw some conclusions about its effects, including political splits in yesterday colonies (i.e. Korea, China, India) and an increasing role of Asia and Africa in international relations. In addition, the section pays special attention to the major political developments in Asia and Africa, with regionalization among them.

Global Value Chains of East Asia: Trade in Value Added and Vertical Specialization

East Asia is known for its high intra‐regional trade of intermediate goods and for its high inter‐regional export of final goods in the manufacturing sector. The present study analyzes how this pattern changed between 1995 and 2009, by focusing on the ratio of value added through export of the intermediate goods with respect to value added induced by total exports (VSI) and the ratio of domestic value added due to final demand of the trading partner relative to total exports to that region (VAX). Using our new index of vertical specialization, VSI, we examine the extent to which the rise of the Chinese economy has changed East Asia's role in the global value chain. Our analysis shows that an increasing visibility of China in the global production network has been accompanied by a higher share of intermediate exports, even though China's VSI ratio is still lower than that of Japan or Korea. Meanwhile, the VAX ratio has fallen for all three countries in pairwise trade with one another, much faster than in inter‐regional trade with other regions. Vertical specialization has progressed in the major exporting industries in China, Japan and Korea. This seems to reflect the strengthening ability of East Asia to create value added, in contrast to advanced countries in Europe and North America.

Development Imperatives for the Asian Century

Evidence-based economic policies — pragmatic policies that work — played a major role in Asia’s success in raising its living standards in the last half century. However, growth prospects are now threatened by rising income inequality and environmental degradation if Asia continues on its established growth path. Evidence strongly argues for Asia to broaden its development priorities into a triple bottom line: that is, a focus on growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability.The paper focuses on how Asia can manage this ambitious goal. Possible resistance from vested interests is to be anticipated, but pursuing this path could bring large overall gains. The paper looks at how Asian governments and their development partners can make a difference in promoting the three policy objectives. Innovations in governance for better accountability, transparency, and feedback will be necessary for achieving these priorities.Societies in Asia and the international community will also need rigorous evidence and analysis to establish the benefits of this strategy and to make informed policy choices. International financial institutions and the donor community can provide financial lubricants for cooperation, as well as knowledge to help governments counter vested interests and champion regional perspectives on transborder issues.Reversing the negative social and environmental trends has to become a real development priority rather than a mere aspiration. Progress is possible on the three bottom-line goals, but it will require focusing Asia’s vaunted methods of learning and innovation to meet the new challenges.

Growing Global Needs for ACU-Denominated Reserve Assets

In the wake of the Asian crisis in 1997, policy efforts have been largely devoted to installing various safety devices in the region, e.g. FX reserves and other swap arrangements of CMIM and extra backup with IMF liquidity facilities. Despite comprehensive progresses in regional monetary cooperation, they have proven less than effective in securing financial stability in the region as witnessed by the global financial crisis in 2008. Given the newly raised insurance motives in the region after the GFC, we have been looking for the underlying causes of volatile liquidity situation to seek better ways to enhance regional financial stability. This paper finds that the missing link in previous efforts has been the lack of valid reserve assets. Excess reliance on dollar assets in the form of increased FX reserves has revealed many problems. Going forward, a viable remedy would be a provision of a new reserve asset that represents the growing role of Asia. Introducing a new category of reserve assets in the international monetary system would not only complement the current monetary cooperation in the region but also enhance the global financial stability. This is because of its usefulness to alleviate the excess dollar dominance as a sole reserve currency and its eroding confidence due to tectonic changes in economic landscape. Without addressing the issue, even the best efforts in monetary and financial cooperation would not help ensure stability in the region and the world as repeatedly dictated by the reality. Specifically, introduction of ACU-type of reserve assets would serve to narrow the widening gap between demand and supply of safe financial assets. It would contribute to normalizing cross-border capital flows and sustaining stability of the existing reserve assets. Regional monetary and financial cooperation need to be predicated on this crucial effort to make sustained improvements in global rebalancing and moderate cross-border capital flows for global financial stability. Future efforts in regional monetary cooperation need to take this into account to realize the potential for supplying a new regionally-based reserve asset to remain time-consistent.

China’s Views of the TPP: Take It or Leave It, That is the Question

The Chinese policy and academic communities have mixed views about the US-led TPP, either viewing it as a strategic attempt at encircling China, or as a positive spur for domestic reform and opening-up. Although the Chinese government adopted an open and flexible attitude towards the TPP, it has moved strategically by accelerating the negotiations of the RCEP and China–Korea FTA, as well as updating its FTA with ASEAN. A more interesting development is China’s new initiatives for building two grand silk roads, one to Central Asia, leading on to Europe, and the other to Southeast Asia, leading on to the Indian Ocean. Both represent China’s renewed confidence in finding its role in Asia.