ABSTRACT
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) quest for regional integration entered into a new phase in 2016 as the long awaited ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) entered into force. The organisation’s drive towards economic integration began in the early 1990s with the initiation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). Since AFTA, the Member States have incrementally progressed in integrating the region culminating in the development of the AEC and ASEAN Connectivity projects. While ASEAN members have been the driving force behind integration, the project would not be possible without its regional partners, especially China and Japan. This chapter seeks to examine the concepts behind regional integration, the role the two major Asian powers have played in supporting the AEC and ASEAN Connectivity, the common and differing interests of the actors involved, if the structure and depth of the two states relationship with ASEAN differ, and the range of mechanisms in place to facilitate cooperation. With the AEC entering into force in 2016 and the continuing negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), analysing the role and how to bolster China–ASEAN and Japan–ASEAN relations becomes all the more necessary.
