Editing ASEAN (section)

====ASEAN Plus Three====
In 1990, Malaysia proposed the creation of an [[East Asia Economic Caucus]]<ref name="caucus">[http://www.asean.org/9303.htm East Asia Economic Caucus]. ASEAN Secretariat. Retrieved 14 March 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302193928/http://www.asean.org/9303.htm|date=2 March 2012}}</ref> composed of the members of ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea. It intended to counterbalance the growing US influence in [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] (APEC) and Asia as a whole.<ref name="oppose">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060429002757/http://asiaviews.org/?content=ger53rger567664&voices=20060125184254 Asiaviews.org]}}, Whither East Asia? Retrieved 14 March 2007.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100605002320/http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs//data/1993/upl-meta-crs-66/93-633f_1993Jun30.txt?PHPSESSID=f7a7ec622077fa19bfce9ec9def6f3d9 UNT.edu], Asia's Reaction to NAFTA, Nancy J. Hamilton. CRS – Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 14 March 2007.</ref> However, the proposal failed because of strong opposition from the US and Japan.<ref name="oppose" /><ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/1994/07/26/caucus.php IHT.com], Japan Straddles Fence on Issue of East Asia Caucus. [[International Herald Tribune]]. Retrieved 14 March 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212201202/http://www.iht.com/articles/1994/07/26/caucus.php|date=12 February 2009}}</ref> Work for further integration continued, and the [[ASEAN Plus Three]],<ref name="aseanplusthree">[https://aseanplusthree.asean.org ASEAN Plus Three]</ref> consisting of ASEAN, China, Japan, and South Korea, was created in 1997.

[[ASEAN Plus Three]]<ref name="aseanplusthree" /> is a forum that functions as a coordinator of co-operation between the ASEAN and the three [[East Asia]]n nations of China, South Korea, and Japan. Government leaders, ministers, and senior officials from the ten members of the ASEAN and the three East Asian states consult on an increasing range of issues.<ref>[http://www.irchina.org/en/pdf/zxm06.pdf "The Rise of China and Community Building in East Asia"]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Zhang Xiaoming, ASIAN Perspective, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2006, pp. 129–148.</ref> The ASEAN Plus Three is the latest development of Southeast Asia-East Asia regional co-operation. In the past, proposals, such as South Korea's call for an Asian Common Market in 1970 and Japan's 1988 suggestion for an Asian Network, have been made to bring closer regional co-operation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aseansec.org/16580.htm |title=ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation|access-date=2016-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204162811/http://www.aseansec.org/16580.htm |archive-date=4 February 2012|url-status=usurped }}</ref>

The first leaders' meetings were held in 1996, and 1997 to deal with [[Asia–Europe Meeting]] issues, and China and Japan each wanted regular summit meetings with ASEAN members afterwards. The group's significance and importance were strengthened by the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]]. In response to the crisis, ASEAN closely cooperated with China, South Korea, and Japan. Since the implementation of the Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation in 1999 at the Manila Summit, ASEAN Plus Three finance ministers have been holding periodic consultations.<ref>Stubbs, R. "ASEAN Plus Three: Emerging East Asian Regionalism?" n.d. web. 12 May 2012.</ref> ASEAN Plus Three, in establishing the [[Chiang Mai Initiative]], has been credited as forming the basis for financial stability in Asia,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aseansec.org/17902.pdf|title=Welcome To The World Of Smokeless Cigarettes!|author=atinder|work=E-Cigarette Review Council|access-date=28 April 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716172317/http://www.aseansec.org/17902.pdf|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> the lack of such stability having contributed to the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]].

Since the process began in 1997, ASEAN Plus Three has also focused on subjects other than finance such as the areas of food and energy security, financial co-operation, trade facilitation, disaster management, people-to-people contacts, narrowing the development gap, rural development, and poverty alleviation, human trafficking, labour movement, communicable diseases, environment and sustainable development, and [[transnational crime]], including counter-terrorism. With the aim of further strengthening the nations' co-operation, East Asia Vision Group (EAVG) II was established at the 13th ASEAN Plus Three Summit on 29 October 2010 in [[Hanoi]] to stock-take, review, and identify the future direction of the co-operation.

The ASEAN Plus Three framework also serves as a platform for the ASEAN affiliated intergovernmental organizations in China, Korea, and Japan to meet and cooperate. The [[ASEAN-China Centre]], the [[ASEAN-Japan Centre]], and [[ASEAN-Korea Centre]] currently convene annually to discuss ongoing projects and to discuss possible areas of cooperation vis-a-vis ASEAN.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2022-10/11397.html |title= Secretaries-General of ASEAN-China Centre, ASEAN-Japan Centre and ASEAN-Korea Centre Held 18th Informal Meeting |access-date=2024-05-07 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230923073442/http://www.asean-china-center.org/english/2022-10/11397.html |archive-date=23 September 2023 }}</ref>