ABSTRACT
Since the late 1960s, Japan has been no stranger to the promotion of regional economic integration and trade liberalization. Japan's economic juggernaut in the 1980s boosted a diplomatic effervesce and a supreme sense of self-confidence in its ability to shape the future of a new economic architecture in Asia as the Cold War wound down. Although the China factor played a large part in Japanese decisions to establish and institutionalize multilateral arrangements in its region, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) provided Japan with a source of legitimization as a new and important autonomous player in regional affairs. China shares the belief with ASEAN that, because the levels of economic development of members are different, their abilities to sustain market opening efforts are also different, and hence the principle of non-binding unilateral action after consultation should apply with respect to effecting trade liberalization measures.
