EU&Asia Relations
EU&Asia Relations
EU&Asia Relations
Table Contents
Table Contents................................................................................................................................1
I Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
Financial Crisis........................................................................................................................11
Poverty Eradication..................................................................................................................13
IV Conclusion...............................................................................................................................17
V Bibliography.............................................................................................................................17
I Introduction
Bangkok was the home of the first ASEM meeting back in 1996. Many can saw
that they had clue as to what it was that they were getting themselves into but more than
one and half decade later, we can but sit and see the great strides that have been covered
in the partnership. With close to forty – seven nations being closely involved in the series
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 2
of meetings, we can be forgiven to note and saw that it is no longer an EU and East Asia
affair. The key underlying reason for the set up is to try and ensure that the relationship
between these two continents is deeper than ever; the main precipitate for this is the fact
that many have seen the need for a more balanced world order. The series of meetings
have gotten to encompass three key themes: political understanding through concerted
dialogue, territorial security & economics and the growing influence of both education
and culture. Through Regional Economic Communities, we have gotten to see that many
have opted for such a platform as it has born more fruits in the areas of economics and
previously the Regional Economic Communities have been generally concerned with the
question on how to expand a particular region’s economic potential and the existent
commercial opportunities, today, focus is shifting to one in which the nation state is
seeing more pastures beyond the traditional regional set up. Such is seen with ASEM. For
the purpose of meeting basic scholarship achievement, this treatise shall begin by
deciphering the common interest between the EU & East Asia before moving on to look
at the results and performance of the series of meetings. More importantly, it shall make
important comments on the various lessons that have been learnt on the subject matter.
With the expected changing of the tides, the gradual metamorphosis of the
orthodox roles of RECs has led to parties looking into other areas of concern that are of
common interest to all. Besides, some such economic communities have widened, or are
at least widening the scope of their realms into some other non-traditional areas such as
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 3
inter-regional political and diplomatic relations. As such, the purpose of this treatise is to
undertake a critical examination the common interests that the European Union and East
Asia share outside the scope of the economic sector. The essay discusses the said issues
within the context of theoretical debates of globalization. As a means to an end, the essay
shall consider and discuss how, for instance, the European Union and East Asia may be
able to deal with such common issues from two main groupings. The first shall be various
topics revolving around peace & security and the other being global & societal
challenges. In the former category, we shall try to demystify the nature of political
diplomacy, inter – regional security, terrorism, transnational crime, trafficking & judicial
cooperation. Moreover, it will seek to look at the thorny issue of international human
rights, rule of law and good governance. With regards to the latter topic on global &
societal challenges, we shall look into the global financial crisis, environment, energy,
climate change and more importantly, sustainable development. Moreover, the paper
shall examine the areas of poverty eradication, science & technology and higher
It goes without say that peace and security are the cornerstone to the prosperity of
any nation. It is with this in mind that pertinent examples have been selected to extend
the show of impetus that the topic has in the minds of the diplomats from across the
divide.
Besides the other new sets of regional economic concerns, one of the most
primordial reasons that do inform the establishment of regional economic blocs is the
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 4
need for the enhancement of the available intra-regional economic and commercial
opportunities. As a result, states have tended to coalesce together in order to harness the
economic and commercial opportunities that are founding within their particular region.
As a result, the same reasons did inform the establishment of both the European Union
and East Asian economic blocs (Santino and Regilme 2011, p. 69).
However, among other issues that ought to be of common interest for both the
European Union and the East Asian Economic blocs are those of regional politics and
diplomacy within these two regions. Unlike the case with the European Union which is
relatively stable politically, the same is not the case with the East Asian region. The
political instability within the East Asian region generally ensues from the fact that East
Asia, especially China, has continued to witness serious questions about its lack of
Besides the political challenges that arise from the fact of China’s lack of political
accountability, there are other politically relevant issues that will certainly continue to be
of common interest to both the European Union and East Asia. Very importantly in this
regard for instance are the unresolved political issues relating to the claims that the
People’s Republic of China has made on a number of territories. Among the affected
territories in this category are the relationships between China and the Republic of China
(Taiwan), China and Hong Kong, as well that of China and Tibet (Gardiner 2003, p. 188).
The relationship that China has had with the aforementioned territories has over
the years become thorny issues especially within the realm of Public International Law
owing to the fact that the same has stifled the calls for independence from the affected
countries (Talmon 1998, p. 123). The stifling of political independence for the affected
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 5
territories arise out of the fact that the international community has been reluctant to grant
political recognition to such entities as Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as states
notwithstanding the fact that these entities very undeniably meet the threshold for
diplomatic intervention from a neutral international arbiter(s). Since the issues are
devoid of any political mistrusts and suspicions. In this regard therefore, the European
Union may thus come in handy, especially if The European Union may offer its good
offices for diplomatic negotiations between the Chinese and these entities’ quests for
political independence.
The common interests between the European Union and East Asia are that both
regional blocs must realize that a diplomatic solution to these protracted political
questions would portend regional stability which will, no doubt, enhance the long-term
social, political and economic interests for both regions (European Commission 2004, p.
6). Even though diplomatic intervention from the European Union may offer a welcome
impetus to the push towards a speedy resolution of these incidents of political instability,
one outstanding advantage that would come with a diplomatic initiative from the
European Union is the fact that it would not come laden with any prejudicial baggage
which is notably seen from the fact that unlike the United States of America is viewed by
China as not being entirely neutral (Gardiner 2003, p. 321). The United States of America
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 6
has always had a soft and biased spot for Taiwan, hence may not be accepted by both the
Chinese and the Taiwanese to preside over a neutral negotiated political settlement to the
problem in question (Glahn 2010, p. 122). Owing to this disability visited on the United
States, it is therefore incumbent upon the European Union to seize this great diplomatic
opportunity and be able to try to offer the lead in diplomacy for the region. The resulting
political stability will offer long-term inter-regional advantages to both regions within the
When it boils down to inter – regional security, a lot of factors come into play.
Looking around within the two continents, we come to terms with the fact that inter –
regional security organizations such as NATO have a key role to play. However, it
saddens to hear of the fact that despite this being the case, the regions are not entirely at
ease especially with regards to nuclear weapons. In particular is the issue of nuclear non-
proliferation within North Korea (Geest and Benini 2005, p. 5). In fact, at present, one of
the world’s greatest security concerns and fears outside that of Iran is the one for North
Korea. The North Korean situation has been of greatest concern not just out of the fact
that the rest of the world seems to know very disturbingly little about the country’s nuke,
but also out of the fact of the polarized security being experienced within the Korean
Peninsula.
Whereas the rest of the world has previously reacted to the development by North
Korea of nuclear arsenal by imposing a raft of economic sanctions that have choked the
country’s economy and contributed to a humanitarian catastrophe, the same has not been
able to check the Communist leaning state’s momentum towards its nuclear program
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 7
(ibid). The fact of this reality has therefore required that the world re-evaluates its
The question therefore is that of how best the world ought to deal with this
erstwhile “rogue” state of East Asia? Naturally, the world must reconfigure its strategies
for dealing with North Korea in order to develop and implement long-term and
sustainable peace within the Korean Peninsula. Owing to the fact that the imposition of
economic sanctions have all but flopped, perhaps a more effective and less costly strategy
in this regard might be that of a negotiated settlement through diplomacy as was the case
By all reasonable standards, it is to be expected that both the European Union and
East Asia, like the rest of the world, are interested in seeing an end to the ever festering
owing to the mutual interest in nurturing a strong regional bloc within the East Asian
region so as to bolster the two regions’ social and economic successes, the two regions
must be prepared to play a leading role in putting into place a diplomatic solution to the
crisis. In this regard, it is to be expected that the European Union ought to prevail upon
China to play a leading role in playing a leading role in developing such a negotiated
settlement since North Korea and China have warm and cordial diplomatic relations.
As is with any given regional boy, we shall always be concerned with anything
that might have the propensity or even the slightest of potential to deter the respective
economies from growth. In particular is the constant of terrorism; through the careful
application of dialogue, the EU has made it very clear that the peace and stability of all
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 8
partners is very critical and ass such all forms of information that will work towards the
fight on terrorism will be forthcoming. It is very important to note the fact that both
partners comprehend the fact that strides in the fight on terrorism are best fought by the
respective member sate and as such the much that the rest can do is provide the much
needed implementation of a comprehensive strategic package that would work best with
tackling with acts of terror. However, central to all manners of initiatives lie in the fact
that the respect for human rights is very critical. As such, both parties to the meeting have
agreed to not only support the UNSC Resolution 1373 but also any other subsequent UN
January 2004 saw the first ever meeting set up to discuss issue of transnational
crime (J. Gilson, 2005). In the said meeting, specialist from all the concerned
departments came together to make a progress as to how best they could aid the efforts of
Interpol in making sure that the territorial security is secured. Mover, there is a growing
need to have criminals that cross all borders to be put out and ensure a more secure
region that can move to consolidate its resources in other areas of economic development.
Human trafficking has been of growing concern to all parties; it is noted that
several parts of Eastern Europe and South East Asia are still trying to come to terms with
the whole spectacle (J. Gilson, 2005). As disturbing as it might sound, there are still
reported cases of modern day slavery that is greatly being facilitated by the trafficking.
On another note, the issue of drug trafficking does not seem to let up as it has been
observed that monies gained in the trade have sort new uses particularly in aiding and
abetting terrorist activities (J. Gilson, 2005). As such, curtailing of such trafficking will
So what happens when suspects have been arrested by the respective security
forces? It has been observed that there is still a huge niche left in this particular sector
especially when tackling issues dealing with say drugs. For example, the two regions are
both in agreement that they are to enforce the guiding principles set out in UN
Vienna Convention of 1988. As such, the two regions are in close reaches of a fully
transfer of proceedings and training of judicial personnel. To make the system be more
effective, there is need to ensure that the parties have an enhanced or rather a more
integrated and common approach to the penalties that are to be imposed on offenders; it
there is a varying rages of penalties for the same kind of offense, then such scenario will
The promotion of human rights and democracy, the rule of law, as well as good
governance (Starmer and Christou 2005, p. 1264) lies at the very heart of a majority of
diplomats when it comes to multilateral dealings. Except for the civil rights cases within
Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the other countries within the East Asia region, and
more notably China have perpetrated a culture of repressive political and civil tendencies.
One of the biggest blots on the Chinese governments’ human rights and
governance records is that of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. During the
incident which began on the 15th of April 1989, the Chinese military descended upon civil
rights activists, mostly students, who had gathered within and around the Tiananmen
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 10
Square to protest over the run-away inflation, corruption and limited career prospects
around the Square thus casting a long shadow upon the governance and human rights
credentials of the People’s Republic of China which has not been too keen to right these
restrictive civil rights program that brooks no dissent and deviation from the official
position by the powers that be. In addition to the pathetic human rights record, the other
civil liberties are equally not strongly rooted within the Chinese civil ad political system
even to date, twenty three years after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Owing to the dominant role that the Chinese have assumed not just within the
region of East Asia, but also across the entire globe, it is imperative that the country
embraces enhanced good governance, human rights, as well as other civil and political
liberties. This therefore is an important role that the European Union may play by
imploring upon China on the need to expand its civil and political platform so as to be
able to positively influence other states both within the East Asian region such as North
Korea and the rest of the world where it has started exerting a lot of influence which is
almost rivalling that of the United States of America (Gardiner 2003, p. 236).
Once the question of territorial security has been ensured, diplomats and policy
makers can move to areas of national development. It has been understood that there are
other issues that might precipitate instability in the region. Some of these issues include
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 11
financial meltdown, environment and energy and poverty. With these in mind, the essay
Financial Crisis
No sooner had the 2008 financial crisis strike Asia; there was an immediate credit
freeze (Pollet-Fort, 2012). Whereas it is not in the interest of this treatise to look at the
underlying causes and effects, it is important to take note of the relations that the
European Union has with the East Asian nations. It is very interesting to note the fact that
European exporters to East Asia recovered much faster than those in East Asia; it is
because of such a reason that a long term mitigation strategy was seen as inevitable if the
effects of any future crisis are to be minimised. Much has to be done to ensure that the
amount of Foreign Direct Investment that was seen earlier before the 2008 crisis resumes.
For East Asia to have a broader cushion to any future crisis, it needs to ensure that its
dependence on the European Union for markets is reduced. Nevertheless, with the
growing number of trade agreements, such a future threat is less likely to instil fear on
In addition to the common interests shared within the areas of politics and
diplomacy, the European Union and East Asia do also have a lot of interests within the
global issues arising from the international environmental issues and concerns such as the
Global Warming and Climate Change, i.e. the increase in the average world temperatures
through the greenhouse effect. The effects of the global climate change ought to be of
concern to both the European Union and the East Asian region out of a number of reasons
which are quite pertinent to their long-term social, economic and political interests.
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 12
One of the reasons as to why global climatic changes arising from the problem of
Global Warming ought to be of common interest to both the two regions is out of the fact
that the same has a direct Impact upon the two regions’, as indeed, the rest of the world’s
agricultural production and output (Parker 2008, p. 17). The effects of climatic changes
on agricultural production are quite multifaceted. For instance, on the one hand, the same
will ultimately impact negatively upon the overall food output of the two regions in
particular and the world in general. Consequently, the same will have serious negative
ramifications upon the two regions’ huge populations thereby having serious drawbacks
Other than the fact of an ultimate reduction in the two regions’ food security and
sustainability, the global climatic changes require that the two regions put into place very
coordinated strategies towards the mitigation of the long-term effects of the same. This
necessity arises from the fact that, other than the United States of America, these two
regions constitute part of the world’s serious emitters of the greenhouse gases from their
As a result of the two regions’ heavy greenhouse gas emissions from the
industries, it should be in the best of their common interests to explore the best possible
ways through which they may be able to arrest these run-away industrial emissions so as
to avoid having them continuing to put the world’s future environmental interests at stake
as is the case presently (Kameri-Mbote, Okidi and Migai Akech 2008, p. 202).
Besides the emissions from the two regions’ industries, other serious causes of
global climatic changes within the region include the emissions of the greenhouse gases
such as nitrous oxide from the paddy fields, the contributions from the livestock, the
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 13
carbon emissions from the countries’ transport industry, among many more (Thornton
Thus, like has been the case with the greenhouse gas emissions from the two
regions’ industries, global climatic changes that arise from the hereinabove identified
sources require that they both reconsider some much more appropriate ways to develop
noted that any such attempted solutions would probably have some fundamental effects
upon the agricultural productions for the two regions. As a result of the foregoing, this
therefore calls for inter-regional cooperation in order to ensure they come up with
sustainable long-term solutions that would not adversely affect their agricultural output
Indeed, owing to the fact that global environmental changes are not localized in
nature and even effect, the two regions need to play a leading role towards influencing
the entire global politics regarding climate change. In this regard therefore, it is to be
expected that the European Union will persuade China, which has been previously
reluctant to implement greenhouse gas emission strategies and obligations arising through
the Kyoto Protocol, to play the environmental ball. Further, it is of utmost importance
that the cooperation of the Chinese be attained in this regard in order to be able to secure
Poverty Eradication
It can also to be appreciated that both the European Union and East Asia also
ought to have a common interest within the area of social and economic empowerment
through the development of poverty alleviation programmes (Mukoma and Ogechi 2006,
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 14
p. 62). There is no doubt that the European Union has a stable social and economic
programme hence it can mutually share its experience with the East Asian regional bloc
so as to enable the East Asian region to develop long-term programmes for the alleviation
So how can they go about in trying to reduce the levels of poverty in the
respective member states? Over the years, the European Union has developed itself into
one big cohesive market with a population running into hundreds of millions. Similarly,
East Asian regional bloc is one of the world’s biggest owing to the Huge Chinese
population of more than one billion people (CIA 2012, p. 1). Naturally therefore, the two
regions can develop very appropriate trade links that would be of interest to all the states
within the regions. As a result of this huge population, it can only be hoped that the two
regions would be able to tap this huge market potential so as to develop very sustainable
and long-term inter-regional trade agreements which would harness this yet to be fully
realized potential. It is through these agreements that we can feel comfortable to sleep at
night and not that poverty levels would be on the decline as nations will accrue massive
profits from trade which can then be channelled into economic stimulus packages and
Besides the foregoing incidents, one other major area of common interest for the
two regional blocs is, definitely, that of the inter-regional transfer of science and
technology. The role of science and technology has become very critical in this era
because of the fact that East Asia, through China and Japan, has rose to become one of
the biggest workshops for the global goods such as electronics and automobiles.
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 15
Naturally, the transfer of science and technology raises questions of the mechanisms the
jurisdictional protection for the intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents
The issue of adequate protection of intellectual property rights has been a very
sensitive one for the Chinese, and Japanese to some extent (Sihanya 1994, p. 55). The
sensitivity of the issues touching upon the protection of intellectual property rights ensue
from the fact that the Chinese have over the years adopted the often controversial practice
known as “reverse engineering” through which they deal with patented products in a
manner that is inconsistent with the intellectual property interests of the patentees (ibid).
As a result, the technologically savvy Western world whose citizens’ intellectual property
interests have suffered through such practices has always had economic disagreements
with the Chinese who have nonetheless defended their actions as being in line with their
continued threat posed to the intellectual property rights of the innovators from the West.
In this regard therefore, there is an even urgent need for the European Union and the East
Asia regional blocs to develop very closer social and economic working ties that would
enable all the processes associated with the transfer of science and technology to be less
controversial and be devoid of the present flagrant violations of the property rights of the
Other than the issues touching upon intellectual property rights, the transfer of
science and technology may also be of common interest to the two regional blocs within
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 16
the realm of energy supply. This is because East Asia is slowly emerging as one of the
world’s biggest workshops (Geest and Benini 2005, p. 7). As a global manufacturing hub,
the region certainly needs to invest into long-term energy infrastructure in order to
sustain their energy needs and requirements both now and in the future.
ASEA – UNINET is a testament to the growing belief that there still lies an
enormous niche in the field of cooperation between the universities of the European
Union and East Asia (Jacobs, 1999). Research and development, curricula development
and faculty exchange are some of the areas that can be explored to realise greater
potential. But more importantly, it will take the active participation of the individual
scholars to make the dream realised. For example, the Asia Europe Foundation has been
seen as critical in providing summer exchanges for scholars. So much has its potential
been realised that many are now considering setting up a scholarship fund that will see
Culture has been seen as an important area that can be used to enhance greater
understanding amongst the peoples whilst encourage tourism. With more ties being
formed amongst the peoples, we can be rest assured that the region will see the
propensity to engage in conflicts reduce (Jacobs, 1999). Moreover, the various agencies
that already working closely together will get to have a greater working atmosphere
owing from the good multilateral relationship that has bee spawned.
From the above discussion, we can observe that a lot has been out in place as is
with regards to enhancing the nature of the relations between the two regions. As an
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 17
objective opinion, we can say that much has been gained but of course this is not
sufficient. The areas of gain are centred on areas pertaining to peace & security and
global & societal challenges. As much as the region is not as stable as it ought to be, we
cannot lay a blanket blame on the union simply because the regional arrangement is not
entirely strong enough to enforce its policies. From the above discussions from the
various sub topics, a careful presentation of the results and performance is available.
As is with any discussion, we can note that certain issues have been raised. For
example, the arrangement has to devise a new way in which it can offer checks and
balances on its individual parties to the arrangement. Moreover, it should be noted that
the best way to go about it is through diplomacy and not through force or coercion.
IV Conclusion
for which regional blocs are formed is that of economic development, there are however
more areas that the regional blocs may indeed work for and achieve. For instance, like
has been illustrated hereinabove, it is possible for such blocs to put into place inter-
regional cooperation through which they may develop militarily, social and economic
among others. If well developed, the European Union and East Asia may be able to
advance these common interests that they share for the betterment of their economic
blocs.
V Bibliography
COMMON INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPEAN UNION AND EAST ASIA 18
<http://files.explore.org/files/CIA%20World%20Factbook%20-%20China.pdf>.
Maxwell.
cases and materials on the law of intellectual property, Foundation Press, New York.
Jacobs, A. (1999, July 9). Co-operation in Higher Education. Retrieved April 27,
http://www.uibk.ac.at/asea-uninet/anet4eu.html
Larry Parker & John Blodgett. (2008). Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Perspectives
on the Top 20 Emitters and Developed Versus Developing Nations. Washington, D.C.:
Bangkok: Fride.
69-90.
Starmer, K. a. (2005). Human Rights and Sourcebook for Africa. London: BIICL.
Maxwell, London.
UNFCCC. (2005). Livestock’s role in climate change and air pollution. Retrieved
Van der Geest W, a. B. (2005). Study on the economics and politics of East Asian
cooperation and in particular China's role in this process: challenges and opportunities