The First Policy Plenary Meeting was held
in the South Main Conference Room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
on June 24, 2004. Mr. TANAKA Hitoshi, Deputy Minister for Foreign
Affairs, gave a keynote speech, titled "The State of the
Concept of East Asian Community and its Issues". Responding
to the question "Why is an East Asian Community necessary?",
Mr. TANAKA pointed out three aspects of the need of such a community:
"(1) It fits into the mid-and-long term national interest
of Japan, (2) It establishes a system to promote cooperation with
China, and (3) It leads Japanese nationalism to go in an appropriate
direction". Comparing an East Asian Community to the European
Union (EU), and considering the different governing systems and
cultural diversities in the region, he stated that community building
in East Asia is a difficult task, but the current trend is for
making the concept a reality by overcoming such difficulties and
working towards its realization.
Following the above keynote speech, the Council Members had lively
discussions and the following comments were made: "It is
important to build a roadmap towards a community with functionalism
and institutionalism." "China itself is becoming positive
about building of an East Asian Community, and it is high time
we go beyond the stage of worrying about China and think seriously
as to how to get along with China." "In Japan, the question
of how to overcome the history issues remains." "The
role played by ASEAN up to the present is significant, and we
must keep thinking about the creation of an East Asian Community
through 'ASEAN-centered discussion'." "As to the formation
of common identity, one important factor is in the realm of contemporary
culture, and this aspect should also be looked from the viewpoint
of Japan's external policy."
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