With one notable exception, Secretary of State Colin Powell's Senate confirmation testimony outlining the Bush administration's Asia policy signaled a remarkable degree of continuity.
Powell identified the US' bilateral alliance network, and particularly the US Japan relationship, as the bedrock from which all else in Asia flows -- this was stated policy during the Clinton administration as well, even if it occasionally suffered in its implementation.
Powell also reiterated the US' "one China" policy, with the caveat that "we expect and demand a peaceful settlement, acceptable to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait." Like its predecessors, the Bush administration will not support unilateral attempts by either side to alter the status quo and will not tolerate any attempt by Beijing to force a solution unacceptable to the people of Taiwan.
Secretary Powell also pledged to support and help facilitate the historic reconciliation between North and South Korea. He stated that Washington will continue to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang as long as it "addresses political, economic, and security concerns, is reciprocal, and does not come at the expense of our alliance relationships."
The US also intends to abide by its commitments under the US-DPRK Agreed Framework, "provided that North Korea does the same." While Pyongyang took offense at Powell's reference to its Dear Leader as a "dictator" -- despite the fact that few in the world today could lay greater title to the term -- fears that the US would pull the rug out from under the North-South and US-DPRK dialogue processes have thus far proven to be unfounded.
Unmentioned involvement
What was conspicuously absent from Powell's comments was any reference to Asian multilateralism. The US is currently involved in two major region-wide multilateral efforts: the security-oriented ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) effort which (through a US initiative) includes an annual Leaders' Meeting. Both are in need of stimulation but are nonetheless worthy of continued US support.
The ARF -- an annual gathering of the region's foreign ministers -- needs to evolve beyond its useful but limited "talk shop" format to not only address the region's more sensitive security issues but to also develop joint procedures for dealing with them. While the ASEAN states must take the lead here, it is not likely to happen without behind-the-scenes US encouragement.
Secretary Powell must also commit to attending the annual ARF ministerial meeting; his two Clinton-era predecessors fell somewhat short in this regard.
APEC also needs a boost. Not a great deal of substance came out of the November 2000 APEC gathering in Brunei. APEC's consensus-building approach has been allowed to provide a convenient excuse for some members to resist or impede liberalization, to everyone's detriment.
This has helped stimulate moves by some more progressive APEC members to create bilateral Free Trade Agreements among themselves. Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong(
While APEC's sense of common purpose has suffered in recent years, the annual Leaders' Meeting still provides a useful opportunity to draw attention to -- and to press for the achievement of -- the Bogor Declaration's 2010 and 2020 open market goals for developed and developing states respectively.
Common benefits
The Bush administration needs to revitalize the APEC notion of cooperation toward mutual goals, with the attendant give and take that requires. Washington should not waver on pushing for pragmatic results, but it can also set a higher tone of collaboration. In this vein, China's entry into the WTO will affect markets globally, but will be particularly felt by APEC members.
The US, in its own policies as well as its approach to APEC members, can help the region's leaders stay focused on the ultimate benefits of a more open and equitable Chinese market.
A full commitment to the APEC process by the US should also entail active encouragement of the intra-Asian economic dialogues that exclude Washington. So far, the US seems merely to tolerate (if not ignore) such bodies as ASEAN Plus Three (Japan, China, Republic of Korea) and ASEM. But, the more opportunities East Asian countries have to flesh out differences among themselves on economic issues, the more progress APEC is likely to make in the long run.
Finally, as I have argued previously, some thought should be given to proposing that, in the future, the APEC Leaders' Meeting be held every other year, substituting an ARF Leaders' Meeting on the off years, in order to promote higher-level security as well as economic dialogue.
Ralph A. Cossa is executive director of the Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based non-profit research institute affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and editor of Comparative Connections, a quarterly electronic journal.
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