articles on East Asian Community (May 6)

I enjyoed the Nikkei(Nihon Keizai Shinbun) articles on May 9. One is an article that there came up several problems in the possible process towards the summit meeting in Malaysia late this year on East Asian Community, which was agreed in ASEAN plus three foreign ministers meeting in Kyoto, May 6. It was reported that Japanese Government was trying to see if US could participate as an observer in the summit. However, there was not enough support. (My translation is quite rough and I did not check the ENglish edition of Nikkei.) It was also reported in early this month that Mr. Armitage was against the idea of East Asian Community in some senses. It lools like that the process was not so easy.

Mr. Naoaki Okabe, the chief editorial of Nikkei Sinbun wrote an article title "what Japan could study from France and Germany." This article, I think, is a well-^prepared and balance article, possibly based on several interviews that Mr. Okabe made privately. I have not checked the original paper written by Professor Toshiro Tanaka of Keio University, but Mr. Okabe referred his idea as follows: What about China and Japan making a co-development of the gas field in East China Sea as France and Germany(West Germany) did manage the coal and steel in Saal, Alsace-Lorraine after the Second World War. This could be a project targeting the future. I think that this is quite an interesting idea.