Pan Guoping

    IN the past few years since the 2008 financial tsunami battered the global economy, Asia has emerged as the primary engine driving economic growth and prosperity in the world. Just ahead of this year’s Boao Asian Forum, an annual report on Asia’s integration process by the forum points out that, with a 7 percent growth rate, Asia contributed to 45 percent of total economic growth in the world last year. The weight and strength of Asia has undoubtedly risen and will continue to grow.

    Along with their increasing strength, positive signs of closer ties between Asian countries have also loomed large. For instance, the interdependence in terms of trade between economies in the region has kept growing in the last decade, from 46 percent in the 1990s to 52.6 percent in 2009, indicating more than half of the international trade in the region was between countries within Asia.

    China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have spearheaded the regional cooperation and integration through the groundbreaking free trade zone which formally came into effect in 2010. Within the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), 90 percent of traded commodities are exempted from tariff, and average tariff charged by China on goods from ASEAN countries has dropped from 9.8 percent to 0.1 percent, while ASEAN members have made or will make reciprocal measures to lower tariff rate on Chinese goods to almost zero.

    Despite this progress, however, regional integration in Asia still lags behind other continents or grand regions in the world. The European Union (EU) has been the pioneer for regional integration for decades. The African Union (AU) has played an active role in promoting economic development and resolve conflicts in the continent, including sending peacekeeping forces into war-torn Somalia and Sudan’s Darfur region.

    In Asia, there is no counterpart to the EU or AU that covers all countries of the region in a single integration framework. Although the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation has been on track to make tangible progress, it is still a very loose institution and contains many members from outside Asia that dilute its “Asian” nature.

    The time has come to build an Asian union that matches its economic clout and the development dynamic of the continent. Major regional events, from politics to economics and environment, all call on people in Asia to work together to seek opportunities and face challenges. In many substantial security issues in the region, powers from outside Asia still tend to impose their strategies on countries here, while Asian countries cannot speak with one voice. Economically, interests of Asian nations are intertwined. When the financial tsunami from another end of the Pacific hit Asia, every economy in the region felt the jolt. When China overcame the downturn and picked up rapid growth, other countries in Asia all benefited. When a recent nuclear leak in Japan caused by the monstrous earthquake and devastating tsunami affected its Asian neighbors, it reminded us that we are also linked with each other, and one’s grave disaster may spill over to the entire region.

    Once we have realized that the interests of Asian countries are closely connected and many regional issues require more intensive cooperation among the neighbors, what is essential on the way to an Asian union is the political vision and will to push the project forward. Many may argue that Asia is a diversified continent, and the cultures, political systems and economic development vary too much between countries. However, if we acknowledge that the Africa Union, with 53 members that also have different cultures and political systems and are at different stages of development, has got ahead of Asia in regional integration, it seems the biggest barrier in Asia to form a union is not the differences but the lack of political will. When Asian countries realize their common interests and future and are ready to strive for a collective goal, it is absolutely possible for them to achieve deeper regional integration and reach the target of an Asia union.

    Apart from political will, strategy and path are also crucial for realizing the target. Although it is an immense project, some Asian countries can take the lead and the project can start from trade and economic fields, where achievements are relatively easier to make. The EU started from only six member states and only covered tariff and trade integration at the initial stage. Likewise, regional integration institutions between China and ASEAN, such as CAFTA, can serve as a starting point. Gradually, it may invite new members to join in and extend its function to other economic issues, and the fields of security, energy, environment, and etc.

    To build a union of Asia will help maintain peace, promote harmony and foster prosperity in the region, benefiting all Asian countries. The rise of Asia provides a great opportunity to kick off the project, hence the peoples and leaders in the largest continent of the world should think about it thoroughly and take serious action.

    (The author is a professor at the School of International Law and deputy secretary-general of the Institute of China-ASEAN Law with Southwest University of Political Science and Law.)