Asia’s ‘troubles’ spike along with its wealth

The Asia-Pacific region is no stranger to long-running conflicts and the territorial disputes which are currently being waged among some of its principle states have decades-long roots. But what is noteworthy about these ‘troubles’ currently is that they are exploding to the surface, as it were, once again, and coinciding closely with the new-found wealth of East Asia in particular.

The latest of these stand-offs is between China and Japan over a chain of islands in the East China Seas and no less a Western power than the US has called for ‘cooler heads’ in Asia over these multiplying disputes, which could not only stall the growth process in the East Asian region but hamper the West’s economic fortunes as well. The Sino-Japanese quarrel comes in tandem with a number of other similar territorial disputes featuring islands, for instance, between Japan and Korea, and China and a number of ASEAN states, with the South China Seas coming into focus.

It should not come as a surprise to the observer that these and many other disputes are emerging explosively in the East Asian theatre because this region is now recognized as the epicenter of global economic growth. For instance, an ‘Eastern economic bloc’ is recognized as taking shape in the global economy and it comprises countries, such as, India, China, Indonesia and Korea, whose growth accounts for one fifth of the world economy. These countries also contribute to 20 percent of world trade and are said to possess some $ 1.5 trillion in monetary reserves.

Global economic growth

Most of these countries and Japan are also considered as comprising the world’s ‘energy demand heartland’, which not only contributes a substantial proportion of the global economic growth, but are highly energy dependent and would not easily forego gas and oil reserves coming within what are seen as their territories. It would be relevant to mention that the Free Trade Area of China and ASEAN set up in 2002, is the world’s largest such Area with a population of some 1.7 billion and has a GDP of USD 2 trillion.

Therefore, the Asia-Pacific region’s growth spurt needs to be factored in as one of the triggers to the current rash of territorial disputes in the East Asia theatre. There is considerable anxiety among the states of the region over resources which prove pivotal in economic growth and the indications are that those territories which are seen as rich in economic resources are increasingly coming to the centre of these squabbles.

Considering these and other developments that reflect on East Asia’s wealth and growth one could take the position that we are witnessing the flowering of an Asian Age, but all would come to naught if these and other disputes degenerate into armed conflicts. Considering also that the West is heavily dependent on the Asian economic boom for a good part of its growth, it could be said that East Asia would occupy a predominant position in the global economic and political systems in the years to come.

Asia-Pacific region

As an important ‘aside’ in this commentary, it could be said that the US, in a sense, saw all this coming in the first few decades of the last century. It knew what it was doing, it could be contented, when the US ensured the military neutrality of Japan after the Second World War and sought for itself a durable military presence in the Japanese islands. From then on, the US went on to establish a series of defence and security cooperation arrangements with a number of pacific and Asian states, including Korea and the Philippines, for the purpose of boosting its military muscle in the Asia-Pacific region.

The challenge before Asia would be to translate this substantial economic wealth into political muscle and ensure that its ‘differences’ are resolved politically and in peaceful ways. Europe is very nearly ‘ailing’ and it could be said with some certainty that the future of the world, in particularly the economic sense, belongs to Asia. In the years ahead, organizations, such as, the Non-aligned Movement would need to be strengthened to channel the economic power which has been amassed, into political muscle.