On The Development And Prospect Of Multilateralism In East Asia

After the cold war, the multilateralism in East Asia has got remarkable development. Some multilateral meetings, forums and international organizations begin to play an important role in regional economy, politics and security affairs.Because of the influence from the historical, geographical and cultural characteristics in East Asia, the multilateralism in East Asia has formed its own characteristics. It is the most remarkable characteristic of the present multilateralism in East Asia to underline "consensus" in "East Asia Way". The development of the multilateralism in East Asia is a result of such mutual promotions as international political structure, economic factors, the demand of traditional and non-traditional safety in the area, etc. Meanwhile, it is restricted by many factors including diversity within the region, Sino-Japanese relations, the lack of "East Asian Idea" and the influence from the USA.Though the development is still insufficient, the degree of regimes is low, the process of the multilateralism in East Asia accords with the pursuit of peace, development and cooperation in East Asian countries, the process represents the trend of historical progress too. The foundation of multilateral institutionalization in East Asia at present is the development and promotion of ASEAN "10+3 "mode. But the "10+3"mode is only a transitional regime. The development of multilateralism in East Asia will begin from low-level "forum mode," expand cooperation field progressively, improve cooperative degree and finally evolve to a tight institutionalized, integration organization.As a great power in east Asia, China should take more strategic consideration of multilateralism, incorporate its own progress into the process of the multilateralism growing-up in East Asia initiatively, promote it to a higher degree.