economic interdependence among North Asian states overcoming historical animosities and improving their political relationships?

The tendency to speak of "Asia" as a homogenous region in the West should not erase the memory of the deep historical animosities that have existed within the area. In the past, Japan has been an aggressor against both China and Korea. Recently, Japan has felt threatened by China's size and economic and territorial ambitions and strength. However, the forces of globalization and the economic interdependence demanded by the new global economy have been an important force in facilitating regional cooperation.

Prior to the 1990s few would have predicted that Japan, China, South Korea and the Southeast Asian nations would have forged free trade agreements and would be "meeting on a regular and structured basis to advance regional cooperation at the ministerial level in over twenty policy domains" as they do now within the ASEAN Plus...
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