INTRODUCTION

Regional integration in Asia has been on the move, and free trade agreements, a strategy by which integration can be achieved, has a prominent feature in the Asian political economy in the last decade. Indeed, rising regionalism is not just an Asian phenomenon, but a global one. Asian states — big and small, authoritarian or democratic — have only a few alternatives to respond to global challenges and developments brought about rapid changes in the international environment. The idea of the East Asia Community (EAC) — made up of three East Asian countries (Japan, China, South Korea and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN]) — is such a response. In the last decade, efforts to achieve such an integrated community have been going on at an unexpectedly fast pace, pushing the Asian economic and political agenda forward. The East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2005, of the leaders of 13 East Asian nations in effect set in motion a historic process of a Pan-East Asian community.

The first significant step forward towards making East Asian Community no doubt has been taken. An official proclamation issued in the declaration that followed the summit meeting of Japan and the 10 ASEAN members held in Tokyo in December 2004 indicated serious commitment from the various parties. Commentators were quick to observe that it was the first time that all of the ASEAN leaders had gathered outside the region, which reflected the growing significance of the organization, and the attention given to it by neighbouring big powers. The declaration put the East Asia Community's creation on an official agenda. Now, China and Japan have become two of the more vocal and enthusiastic advocates.

This paper argues that China, given its phenomenal rise, is slated to play an accelerated role in building the future of East Asian Community, and ASEAN–China FTA would be one of the cornerstones in such as a process. It will examine the relationship between China and the EAC, ASEAN and the EAC, and the problems and challenges of the EAC.