China and Japan in East Asian arrangements : more rivalry, less interdependence

In this chapter, Chien-peng Chung, dispels the notion that participation by Beijing and Tokyo in various ASEAN Plus forms of multilateralism necessarily led to greater interdependency, a sense of community, a common identity, and a habit of greater cooperation between them. Chung wryly notes that the trend is just the opposite: “more rivalry and less interdependence” between Japan and China in these East Asian multilateral fora. Simply put, the ASEAN Plus arrangements have become arenas of competition between these two countries. Chung’s conclusion is rather bleak: “With China and Japan in an uncooperative mood, and their desire to separately establish and promote relations with individual countries both within and outside the ‘ASEAN plus’ groupings, ASEAN’s referee/middleman role in these arrangements, and its ability to manage great power relations through them, may be increasingly rendered impotent and superfluous.”