Ensuring East Asia security Niu Jun Updated: 2004-01-08 07:26
In terms of post-Cold War conditions, there exist some factors of instability
and the possibility of turmoil or even military conflict in East
Asia.
Compared with post-Cold War Europe, East Asia has two problems that
deserve our attention.
First, there is nearly no traditional security
threat in Europe. But in East Asia the problems of traditional and
non-traditional security are equally serious.
In terms of traditional
security, the Korean Peninsula and territorial disputes between some East Asian
nations are all potential flashpoints, for which we foresee no possibility of a
fundamental solution in the near future.
The existence of traditional
security problems is the key reason for the trend toward strengthening
traditional military alliances in the post-Cold War era.
Moreover, there
still exists the struggle between different social systems as, with the
exception of Cuba, all the existing socialist countries are in East
Asia.
The United States is not willing to fundamentally abandon its Cold
War policy towards East Asia, which often contributes to intensifying regional
tensions.
The growth of non-traditional security problems, including
terrorism, separatism, unrest or conflicts aroused by racial confrontation,
trans-border criminals and environmental issues, are also obvious. The severe
threat to the regional stability by such non-traditional security problems has
become the driving force of promoting security co-operation among the concerned
countries.
Second, Europe has some security mechanisms and organizations
such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which can still
effectively solve the continent's security issues. East Asia does not have
similar security mechanisms and systems. The United States, which has great
influence in this region, has never dominated the regional security affairs as
it has in Europe.
The US-Japan alliance, as a tool to contain the Soviet
Union and China during the Cold War, is fundamentally different from NATO.
Unlike NATO, the US-Japan alliance sometimes plays a role in destroying
the regional stability due to its Cold War mentality.
No European
countries have been as willing as Japan to rely so heavily on an alliance with
the United States for protection. But it was Japan that brought unforgettable
suffering and disaster to this region during World War II, and the country's
steadfast refusal to honestly face up to that history is the main reason it has
never won the trust of its Asian neighbours.
The complexity of East
Asia's security situation has mirrored some basic features of the development in
this region, which on one side indicates the Cold War security concept and
structure would remain, and on the other, fuelled by regional economic
integration, bodes well for the establishment of a new security situation and
structure to maintain the basic stability of the whole region.
History
shows that, until the end of the Cold War, East Asia's security situation was
determined by the relations between the major powers, and that East Asia's
stability was maintained by the changing balance between those
powers.
The relations between the major powers continue to play a pivotal
role, but with new features.
Towards East Asia the concerned powers have
attitudes or policies that are mutually influential or conflicting.
For
example, the United States continues to pursue unipolar domination or hegemony
in East Asia. But China, Russia, and even Japan advocate directly or indirectly
multipolarization. The United States attempts to establish a security system
based on military alliances. Nevertheless, some nations of this region advocate
the formation of a security system based on co-operative strategy.
The
practice of these policies and attitudes has resulted in three basic forms of
the post-Cold War security mechanism for East Asia, namely, hegemony, balance of
power and co-operative security.
Since all three originated from the need
of their respective domestic politics and national strategy and are viewed as a
reaction towards the complicated security environment of East Asia, they are all
vital and will co-exist and co-develop in this region for a long time.
Of
the three, the balance of power currently plays the major role in maintaining
the basic stability of East Asia, but in the long run co-operative security will
be increased and become the dominant feature of the region's security system.
This also means the impact of US hegemony will decline.
First,
co-operation between the powers in the post-Cold War period has been
increasingly enhanced, and a relationship based on comprehension and
co-existence has gradually been forged between them. Nearly all the powers are
faced with common or similar security threats within or beyond East Asia.
Meanwhile, an inter-dependent relationship has been formed in the process of
economic globalization, though it is usually a kind of unequal
interdependence.
This development has led to the strengthening of
co-operation and decreasing hostility between the major powers, of which the
development of the Sino-US relationship is a typical example.
Second, due
to the increasingly serious non-traditional security threat, the security issues
of East Asia can only be solved by means of co-operation.
No country can
effectively cope with problems such as terrorism, regional disturbance,
smuggling and drug dealing by merely relying on its own power or traditional
military alliances. With the deepening of regional economic integration, no
unilateral policy will work, which has been proved by the developments of the
international relations in East Asia in recent years, in particular since the
terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
It is
therefore a reasonable and desirable option for East Asia to set up a security
system with co-operative security as its main objective.
(China Daily )
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