East Asia Lead or Asia Pacific Century?

East Asia should aspire to lead the world in economic revival.

This is the vision of new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio HatoyamaYukio Hatoyama.

But Australia's Prime Minister Kevin RuddKevin Rudd has proposed a grander idea of an Asia Pacific Century by 2020.

The two visions were presented at the three-day East Asia Summit in Hua Hin,Thailand,which ended yesterday(Oct.26,2009).

Whether East Asia Lead or Asia Pacific Century,the leaders and peoples of the diverse Asia Pacific community have to work closely together to ride out a global slump.

So far they have apparently done better than the Western nations.

Earlier this year,they set up a US$120 billion currency reserves fund to help

nations in distress from having to bother the International Monetary FundIMF) for aid.

The self-help initiative has become a positive step in the right direction to boost economic cooperation and mutual assistance.

Now,the 16 Asian leaders who met over the weekend have thought deeply to get out of the global economic crisis faster by restructuring their export-led economic growth model.

They must act fast to develop self-driven dynamics based on new sustainable

free East Asia or Asia Pacific Community Market.

Instead of producing exports to the developed nations in the West,they must build up the capability and capacity for greater inner strength of higher domestic demand,economic growth and living standard.

This year's East Asia Summit,held together with Asean meeting,twice postponed by Thai anti-government protests,got 16 Asian leaders together,including big powers like China,India,Japan and Australia.

The envisaged Asia Pacific community spans northern Asia,India right down south to Australia and New Zealand.

Closing the meeting,Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva,stressed there would be a follow-up meeting in Australia "to flesh out" the ideas in December.

The revitalized Asean after 42 years of formation had earlier ratified a new charter for Asean integration by 2015.It is poised to move faster into a greater grouping of East Asia or Asia Pacific Community.

To be more relevant,Asean must grow into a bigger regional forum addressing new challenges of political pragmatism and free market economics.

The leaders must address hard questions of human rights,especially in junta-ruled Myanmar.The key solution is to secure the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu KyiAung San Suu Kyi soonest possible.

Otherwise it is all talk no concrete result platform.

The launch of Southeast's first human rights watchdog,Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights,hailed by Abhisit as an Asean new milestone last Friday (Oct.23,2009,has already created controversy by rejecting free participation and inputs from various non-governmental organizations(NGOs).

The Asean human rights watchdog's representation must be more democratic.Its fund of US$200,000 is too small to achieve any meaningful impact.

The Asean leaders also signed pacts on climate change and disaster management.

Vietnam will take over the chair of Asean by rotation in end-December.It will host two Asean meetings in Hanoi in conjunction with Vietnam's 1,000 year(Millennium) national celebrations in April and October next year.