Given this fact, Zhai pointed out that there is a growing need to recognize and codify new principles and methods, adding that the trend is evidenced by the Eminent Persons Group's suggestions on the ASEAN Charter. The charter is exactly meant to turn ASEAN from a loose organization to a rule-based, institutionalized one, he said.

At the same time, the decisions are aimed at improving ASEAN's leadership. While enhancing the capacity to address its own problems, ASEAN is expected to become more competent in coping with the relations among its 10 members and between the organization and its partners.

"As a strong advocate and main player in East Asian cooperation, ASEAN coordinates the cooperative process," Zhai wrote. "The deepening of ASEAN integration is poised to exert a positive influence on the cooperation in East Asia."

However, the integration is not trouble free. Shi Yongming, an expert with the China Institute of International Relations, cited a few chronic problems that have been affecting the process, such as the uneven development of the member countries. Influence from the United States and Japan also complicates the situation, he said.

He noted that the foreign investment in Southeast Asia mostly comes from Japan and the United States. While U.S. investments are mainly commercial, Japan tends to focus on strategic investments, maintaining a financial and technological monopoly in the region, he said.

Strengthening regional ties

For all the complexities, the atmosphere for East Asian cooperation has considerably improved, partly because of the easing tension between Japan and its neighbors, experts say. The trilateral meeting among China, Japan and South Korea within the framework of ASEAN Plus Three was resumed, producing a broad range of consensus, including the establishment of a regular consultation among senior diplomats of the three countries.

In a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three Summit, Wen told his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe that Sino-Japanese relations are returning to normal, a fact that both sides should appreciate. He indicated that the two countries should also make greater efforts to keep the diplomatic ball rolling.

Sino-Japanese relations were strained during former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's five-year term as he paid repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, viewed by some as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Abe made an "icebreaking" trip to Beijing shortly after he assumed office in early October last year. In a show of warming bilateral relations, Wen accepted Abe's invitation to visit Japan in the spring during their meeting in Cebu.

Shi told Beijing Review that in the past two ASEAN Plus Three summits, leaders avoided mentioning sensitive issues such as politics and security. At the Cebu summit, however, Wen raised pushing forward cooperation in the security field--both traditional and nontraditional security--as one of the five suggestions he offered for an enhanced ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, Shi noted.

He commented that this was made possible by the thaw of China-Japan relations. He continued that it shows the countries now have a new perception of the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation and it is conducive to laying a solid political groundwork for this mechanism.

Zhai said the cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea is the key to the success of East Asian cooperation; however, cooperation in Northeast Asia lags far behind that in Southeast Asia and is susceptible to political factors. Pessimistic sentiments prevailed in the international community when the 2005 trilateral summit was cancelled as a result of the stalemate over Japan's evaluation of its history, he said.

Zhai believes that the ASEAN Plus Three mechanism is the concrete platform for establishing an East Asian community. The East Asia Summit, however, is still at an initial stage and is only complementary to ASEAN Plus Three, according to the expert.