ABSTRACT
In the decade after the Asian financial crisis (AFC) in 1997–8, East Asia witnessed unprecedented regional cooperation, particularly in the areas of financial cooperation and trade liberalization (Kawai, 2005; MacIntyre et al., 2008). Not only have several high-profile regional institutions – such as the ‘ASEAN plus Three’ (APT) framework and the East Asian Summit (EAS) – been established, but the East Asian economy has become increasingly subject to the regional rules enshrined in the free trade agreements (FTAs) and the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI). These changes mark a dramatic departure from the early period of East Asian regionalism, when the lack of institutionalization and regional rules was the norm (Katzenstein and Shiraishi, 1997). Behind the new face of East Asian regionalism were the active roles of regional states, in both Northeast and Southeast Asia, pushing for greater collaboration in regional economic governance (Bowles, 2002).
