Asia plans to ‘lead the world’ by 2015 with EU-like bloc of nations

By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, October 24th, 2009 -- 11:27 am
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ASEANsummit2009 xinhuaphoto Asia plans to lead the world by 2015 with EU like bloc of nationsThe 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wants an economy that will "lead the world" by 2015. To these ends, the group has commissioned a study on the feasibility of wrapping some of the world's most populated nations into a "freed trade zone" bloc not dissimilar to the European Union, according to published reports.

The Asian leaders, who are meeting in Thailand, said the association would tie together the ASEAN nations and regional partners "China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand," the BBC reported.

The British news agency quoted Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as saying, "It would be meaningful for us to have the aspiration that East Asia is going to lead the world." Wire service AFP added that the proposal for an East Asian community had come from Hatoyama.

"Right now we have bilateral free trade agreements with all six countries completely. Now we should explore a feasibility study both in the East Asia Free Trade Area and with (India, Australia and New Zealand)," he said.

Asia's quick rebound from the global recession compared with the United States and other Western economies has prompted calls for the region to increase integration.

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However, the BBC noted that a proposal to include the United States in such an economic community was a point of contention at the ASEAN meeting.

"Some Congressional leaders are reportedly urging the Obama Administration to pursue a free-trade agreement with ASEAN, but this is likely to prove contentious," economic blogger Marc Chandler added. U.S. leaders plan to appoint an ambassador to the ASEAN and stage a summit with leaders in November, he also noted.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, presenting a six-point proposal to ASEAN leaders, suggested first that "the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area should be brought into play through publicizing laws and regulations on the free-trade area and the professional training of human resources for it, and by assisting enterprises to make good use of its preferential policies," China Daily reported.

Wen also added that "he hoped the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), a 120-billion-U.S.-dollar regional reserve pool aimed at providing emergency liquidity for countries in financial crisis, could be launched by the end of this year," China View news reported.

China said it is planning a conference on forming the new Free Trade Area and developing guidelines for business within it. "By 2010, tariffs on almost all goods traded between ASEAN and China would be eliminated," Xinhua reported.

Bilateral trade between ASEAN nations and China has grown from $60 billion to $192 billion per year in just the last six years, Xinhua added.

With AFP.

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Story comments are below...

  • Phil E. Drifter
    YOU MEAN BANKERS of Asian zones.
  • dennycrane
    Who cares. It will another 20-30 years before they ever win a World Cup.
  • truthops2010
    Aint it grand, how Reagan, Clinton, and the Bush's sold this country's middle class down the river, and the only ones left standing, are the Wall Street barons, multi-national corporations, and international banks. The rest of us can just suffer in the Brave New World of American Fascism, as it implodes at home, and explodes abroad.
  • trevinla
    I'm confused - don't they lead the world now??? perhaps they mean "Openly lead the world"...
  • theghostpony
    Stop buying their crap. Shut them down. Every dollar spent at Wal-Mart and Target is another nail in our coffins. There ARE alternatives.

    Remember, our "time in the sun" will only be over if WE allow it to happen.
  • Notorious Kelly
    Looks like the colonization of America is almost complete.
  • Heil Mary
    The mother-killing, pedophile priest-serving Vatican is the cause of our jobs being exported to overpopulated Asia (with the help of the treasonous, genocidal, Treasury-looting pedophile Bush crime family). If "Christian" missionaries had done their truly Christian duty of promoting safe motherhood through family planning, Asian populations would grown much slower and more stable without the need for poverty invasions, genocides, pedophile sex tourism, and JOB STEALING from the U.S. Ditto for overpopulated CATHOLIC-CORRUPTED Africa and Latin America.
  • Savantster
    .
    xtian family planning consists of having a big family.
  • MrPunch
    of course China will lead the world, they are spectacularly efficient facist machine, reducing humans to the levels of functional cogs to be oppressed. The US has always been gaga over such a fully operational fascism. If only its people weren't so strong they could achieve the same...Oh look hope is in site!
  • Savantster
    .
    cogs are bits in a machine. machines replacing people makes more money for the person who managed to get where they are by birth rite, in most cases. The old families that were the most ruthless before still control what's rightfully everyone's resources. Those running the levers like that they can abuse a machine with no regard, and want humans to be just like that. The problem is, in America, we're told we have rights.. so it's harder to abuse us. So they went to other nations and abused those people, treated them like disposable machine parts..

    Now those people will learn they have rights, too. Their governments acting in a semi-socialistic way will keep those people fairly content while they entire nation explodes on the world's stage, despite them not having anywhere near as "easy" a start as we did in America. Over there, they know they have rights, but they also know that they will be rewarded for working hard. Hard work in America nets you sore hands, nothing else. Why?

    Those that came before are squatting on all _our_ resources and telling us we should be kissing their feet for them letting us even have scraps.

    The world will demand an entirely new paradigm. www.thevenusproject.com and www.thezeitgeistmovement.com .. What's sad is, America won't be the innovator of the future, it will come from what was once a backwards government (so we were told) that hated it's people.. yet, those people will sculpt a brighter future (despite America)
  • Savantster
    .
    Looks like America's time in the sun is over. Business wanted to bring a cheaper product to market by moving production off shore, and those people started making money and liking the better life they were getting. While the business interests profited from lowering our standards of living and convincing us to be consumers for the sake of consuming, instead of living our lives, they woke up the rest of the world to the joys of indoor plumbing, fresh food, and gadgets.

    I just hope they can do a better job than we did of avoiding letting the desire for profits destroy the fabric of society. Education is the key.
  • kscitydude
    I have to agree with you Savantster.

    And we owe a big "Thanks" to corporations and the American people that are backing them, the
    Republicans.
  • trevinla
    But the Republicans think corporations are People - they think corporations are more People like than People are...

    The Republican Declaration of Independence starts "We The Corporations, in order to absolve all Unions..."
  • OldAtlantic
    They already lead Berkeley, UCLA and Stanford. Student visa betrayal brought to you by DemoGOP.
  • kiboshki
    Technical grad studies programs are starved for American students. They recruit so many from abroad because they can't get the grads they need from home. And nowadays, increasing numbers of them are returning to their home countries after graduating to work for big multi-nationals or other companies located where all the economic growth is.

    Reverse brain-drain, courtesy American Big Biz. You reap what you sow, eh?
  • kiboshki
    Oh, and even better, the Rightwing's precious DoD is increasingly jeopardized because there are fewer and fewer qualified engineers, tech grad students, scientists, etc with American citizenship to work on all their zany projects.

    Again, you reap what you sow, eh?
  • Savantster
    .
    The betrayal is that we don't do a very good job of educating our own kids, and put barriers in place to keep those we see as "unfit" because they are poor from being able to utilize their brains.

    By valuing money over people, we've brought this upon ourselves. And that's 90% right-wing.
  • OldAtlantic
    I agree these are problems. But kids are also afraid of technical careers. A student from a college I went to called for donations recently. He had a 5 on the Calculus AB AP exam, but didn't take much math in college. He did not say openly, that H-1b and student visas close that off but it was obvious in his thinking.
  • Savantster
    .
    "But kids are also afraid of technical careers."

    wha? yeah, because it makes any sense that you'd not want to pursue a career that pays pretty well... because you're afraid the lack of talent means you'll be working with some foreigner? Better he should ask for handouts than even try to get a career in tech, right?

    And, again, it's the FACT that we send so many technical jobs overseas to offices in multi-national corporations (something the right-wing supports and encourages) that causes Americans to have a hard time finding work, all across the market. H-1b visas have nothing to do with it.
  • truthops2010
    yes the right-wingers have supported and encouraged sending high tech jobs overseas, but so have Democrats in large measure. Here the Democratic Party has the House, Senate, and the Presidency, however not one loophole has been closed. Another bullcrap promise unfulfilled by Obama, the master leg puller.
  • Savantster
    .
    And I agree that over the past 20 years, the Dems have become the old Repugs, and the old Repugs have become an extremist group. The country is sliding to the right, why do you think the banks were allowed to screw us, then get bailed out on our dime?

    The core point would be that it's a right-wing mentality to say "screw the non-wealthy, what value are they?".. and the Dems of TODAY are playing with being right-wingers. We have no "liberal" party in America (that has any effectual power).

    Our Founding Fathers were worried about a system with distinct parties. Since they were some pretty smart guys, we might want to pay attention to their concerns.
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