ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with a brief overview of the historical legacies of multilateral institutional development in Asia. Then it discusses the golden age of regionalism in the 1990s. China's embrace of multilateralism was a transformative event for Asian diplomacy and Chinese foreign policy. Postwar Japan relied on multilateral institutions to return to Asia and to gain some legitimacy in regional leadership. With international institutions being a central platform of postwar Japanese foreign relations, Tokyo naturally looked to institutional assistance in dealing with China. In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan and the newly industrializing East Asian economies, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong led the way in economic opening to China and in the regionalization of production. The chapter discusses the competing designs for regional institutions and examines institutional development and heightened strategic rivalry, particularly after the global financial crisis. Finally, it briefly highlights the enduring strength of regional institution building and warns against exclusive regional designs.
