Chronologies
Asian Regionalism
Chronology
: The seventh ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting is held in Brunei. Top agenda items include planning for the ASEAN Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Exercise and the ADMM+ version of this exercise.
: Finance Ministers from China and South Korea skip the ASEAN Plus Three consultation scheduled on the margins of an Asian Development Bank meeting held in India. A former Japanese official attributes the ministers’ absence to “deterioration” in Japanese-Chinese and Japanese-South Korean relations.
: The 26th annual ASEAN-US Dialogue is convened in Washington participants agree to move from an annual US-ASEAN Leaders Meeting to a US-ASEAN summit, to be held in Brunei in conjunction with the East Asia Summit this fall.
: ASEAN completes the first of two summits for 2013, in Brunei. In contrast to 2012, maritime security issues are at the top of the agenda, although this only marginally improves ASEAN’s internal cohesion on this issue.
: Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announces that Japan will enter into formal negotiations to join the TPP.
: ASEAN and the European Union complete their 12th round of consultations in Hanoi. The parties note that ASEAN-EU trade and investment are increasing by 12.6 percent and 7.6 percent respectively in 2011, despite the world economic downturn.
: The 16th round of TPP negotiations are held in Singapore.
: ASEAN states release a joint statement of concern for regional stability because of North Korea’s underground nuclear test. Although Hun Sen, as ASEAN chair, offered to convene an ASEAN Troika to conduct shuttle diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula in 2003, the Northeast Asian parties have generally ignored such ASEAN gestures of concern.
: Cobra Gold exercises are held in Thailand. For the first time, Myanmar participates as an observer.
: ASEAN and India hold a Commemorative Summit to mark the 20th anniversary of ASEAN-India relations.
: The 15th round of TPP negotiations are held in Auckland, New Zealand. Previous 2012 rounds include Sept. 6-15 (Leesburg, Virginia); July 2-10 (San Diego); May 8-18 (Dallas); and March 2-8 (Melbourne).
: East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh caps five days of meetings among ASEAN and its dialogue partners. President Obama’s announcement of a US-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Partnership for a Sustainable Energy Future introduces a new regional initiative.
: ASEAN and its six external partners – China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand – announce the launch of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which ASEAN hails as “the world’s biggest free trade deal.”
: ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Phnom Penh commemorates 15 years of cooperation. The joint statement cites strengthening of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization Scheme and vows to boost food security but is silent on territorial issues within the group.
: US and ASEAN hold the fourth ASEAN-US Leaders Meeting and commemorate 35 years of US-ASEAN relations. They announce the launch of the US-ASEAN Expanded Economic Engagement (E-3) Initiative.
: ASEAN states formally adopt the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.
: Canada and Mexico announce that they will seek entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
: The 20th APEC Leaders Meeting is held in Vladivostok.
: ASEAN Foreign Ministers issue a carefully worded statement of concern over conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and offer humanitarian assistance. Although fulsome in its praise of Myanmar’s reform movement, the statement indicates a further erosion of the ASEAN principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of a member state.
: The 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting ends in disarray without a joint statement, reportedly because of internal dissension over mention of disputes with China in the South China Sea.
: Shanghai Cooperation Organization holds its 10th annual Summit in Beijing.
: Shangri-La Dialogue is held in Singapore. Twenty-seven high-level delegations and 16 defense ministers participate, but not Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie.
: The 31st annual Cobra Gold exercises held in Thailand with partners US, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia, along with several observer countries.
: The 10th round of TPP negotiations are held in Kuala Lumpur.
: ASEAN and China mark 20th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations.
: APEC Leaders Meeting is held in Honolulu, where they pledge to curb rising protectionism. To set a more austere tone at a time of economic crisis, President Obama ends the APEC tradition of wearing identical costumes in the leaders’ “family photo.”
: New Zealand and Hong Kong sign a closer economic partnership (CEP) agreement, Hong Kong’s first FTA aside from its FTA with mainland China.
: The Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) agreement comes into effect.
: Japan holds symposium on “Building the East Asian Community,” featuring presentations by 10 leading policy voices from the Asia-Pacific region, hosted by the Foreign Ministry’s affiliated think tank, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA).
: First round of TPP negotiations are held with trade officials from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, US, and Vietnam.
: China and Taiwan begin formal talks on a trade deal termed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers major policy speech on “Regional Architecture in Asia: Principles and Priorities” at East-West Center, Honolulu Hawaii.
: India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement enters into force.
: ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.
: ASEAN-India FTA comes into effect.
: ASEAN-China FTA comes into effect.
: Australia holds “Asia Pacific community conference,” a 1.5 track conference in Sydney to discuss Prime Minister Rudd’s proposals for creating an “Asia Pacific community.”
: APEC Leaders Meeting held in Singapore, with discussions on the theme of “Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region.”
: President Obama announces in a speech in Tokyo that the US will negotiate a Trans-Pacific Economic Partnership, (TPP), with seven Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
: First Japan-Mekong Summit held in Tokyo, Japan. Prime Minister Hatoyama meets leaders of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, and pledges to extend at least $5.6 billion in fresh assistance to the Mekong region over next three years.
: Fourth EAS meeting held in Hua Hin, Thailand. The summit had been rescheduled with change of venues several times due to the 2008-2009 Thai political crisis.
: Twelfth ASEAN Plus 3 summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand.
: 15th ASEAN summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand. ASEAN leaders officially launch the new ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), with the aim of promoting regional cooperation on human rights and curbing human rights abuses.
: Second Trilateral Summit between Japan, Korea, and China, held in Beijing.
: Japan-Vietnam FTA enters into force
: Third G20 Economic Summit held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Leaders announce that the G20 is now the “permanent council for international economic cooperation,” replacing the G8 as the premier economic forum.
: Secretary Clinton announces a change in the Obama administration’s Burma policy to engage the military junta while still maintaining economic sanctions.
: Prime Minister Hatoyama meets Chinese President Hu on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meeting in New York, and broaches his idea of an East Asian Community, modeled on the European Union.
: India and ASEAN sign a FTA after six years of negotiations.
: India and Korea sign an FTA.
: Secretary Clinton meets foreign ministers from the four Mekong riparian states (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam) on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two river basins of the Mississippi and the Mekong.
: Secretary Clinton at the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, signs ASEAN TAC, while declaring “The United States is back in Southeast Asia.” She also announces US plans to open a mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, with the US ambassador to ASEAN in residence.
: The 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Post-Ministerial Conferences, and 16th ARF meet in Phuket, Thailand.
: The first Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) summit is held in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
: Ninth SCO summit is held in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addresses Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and makes a revised case for his Asia Pacific community proposal.
: Foreign ministers of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) announce plans to expand membership to include Australia on Asian side, and Russia on European side, for the next ASEM summit meeting scheduled for October 2010 in Brussels.
: The US and the Philippines co-host the Voluntary Demonstration of Response (VDR) on Disaster Relief in the Philippines, with 20 ARF countries participating and 12 countries contributing civilian and military resources.
: Finance ministers from ASEAN Plus 3 announce agreement on the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), which will expand the currency-swap facility from $80 billion to $120 billion. They also commit to establishing a regional surveillance unit, although details are left unspecified.
: China and Peru sign FTA.
: Japan and Peru launch negotiations for an FTA.
: Second G20 Leaders’ Economic Summit held in London.
: Korea and Australia announce launch of formal negotiations for fTA.
: ASEAN and Australia/New Zealand sign an FTA.
: The ASEAN summit is held in Hua Hin Thailand, after being postponed in December due to political demonstrations that closed Bangkok’s airports.
: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and China.
: Singapore-China FTA enters into force.
: Japan and Vietnam sign a bilateral FTA.
: ASEAN Charter enters into force.
: President Lee Myung-bak, Prime Minister Aso Taro, and Premier Wen Jiabao hold a trilateral summit in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Japan – the first trilateral summit among the “Plus Three” countries to be held apart from ASEAN meetings.
: The central banks of Japan, China, and Korea announce additional currency swap lines, increasing the size of one of the Japan-Korea swaps from the equivalent of $3 billion to $20 billion, and creating an additional swap arrangement between China-Korea in local currency equivalent to about $30 billion.
: Japan-Philippines FTA enters into force.
: Six-Party Talks are held in Beijing. The parties fail to agree on a protocol to verify North Korea’s denuclearization.
: ASEAN-Japan FTA comes into force.
: Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting held in Lima, Peru. Leaders reiterate G20 pledges to refrain from trade protectionism and resume work on the Doha Round, and to work to improve international financial regulations and reform the IMF and World Bank.
: Leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) hold their first summit-level meeting in Washington, DC to address the global financial crisis. Leaders discuss financial reforms and pledge to refrain from trade protectionism and to revive Doha round.
: US Federal Reserve announces temporary reciprocal currency arrangements of up to $30 billion with central banks of Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and Singapore.
: Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit is held in Beijing.
: China and Singapore sign an FTA.
: Philippine Senate ratifies the Japan-Philippine FTA, originally signed in 2006.
: China-New Zealand FTA enters into force.
: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, setting off a financial panic that froze global credit markets, crushed stock and bond prices, and spread quickly to the real economy.
: Eighth annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
: Japan-Brunei FTA enters into force.
: Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organization in Geneva collapse when the US, China, and India fail to resolve differences over agricultural protection in developing countries.
: North Korea signs the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC).
: The 15th ARF is held in Singapore, focusing on disaster relief, North Korea’s nuclear program, terrorism, the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand, and the food and energy crisis.
: Foreign ministers from the US, China, South Korea, Japan, North Korea, and Russia meet informally on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) to discuss progress in the Six-Party Talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
: Foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries along with South Korea, China, and Japan hold an ASEAN Plus 3 meeting in Singapore. They are later joined by the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, and India for East Asian Summit (EAS) consultations.
: The 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is held in Singapore.
: Six-Party Talks are held in Beijing after a nine-month hiatus.
: Japan-Indonesia free trade agreement (FTA) enters into force.
: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd unveils his vision for an Asia Pacific Community (APC) in a speech at the Asia Society in Sydney.
: The governing board of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) holds its inaugural meeting at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
: ASEAN plus 3 finance ministers agree to expand and strengthen the Chiang Mai Initiative into a multilateral currency swap facility of at least $80 billion.