East Asia Summit (EAS): Issues for Congress

Publication Date: January 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: International relations

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Abstract:

The first East Asia Summit (EAS) met on December 14, 2005, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It brought together the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), [Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam] as well as the "plus three" states [China, South Korea, and Japan] and Australia, New Zealand, and India, to discuss issues of common concern. Japanese officials have described the EAS as an "historic summit meeting to be held with a view to establishing a future East Asia Community."1 Such a group could potentially replace Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as the main multilateral forum in Asia on trade and investment liberalization and economic integration. Russia was invited to attend the EAS as a special guest.2 Some in the United States are concerned that the East Asia Summit marks a rise in Asian regionalism in which the United States is not playing a leading role. There is also concern that China may use the East Asia Summit to consolidate a leading role in Asia. A key outcome of the first East Asia Summit is that ASEAN appears to have retained a central role in the process. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant.