Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.6, 2017

The Early Days of Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation: Historical Evolution and Construction of Norms

(Abstract)

Zheng Xianwu

Early regional cooperation in Southeast Asia was the result of interaction between politics, economy and security, led by different types of regional consciousness. It can be divided into three stages: the stage of gestation from 1945 to 1950, the stage of partial regional growth from 1951 to 1960, and the stage of division and reorganization from 1961 to 1967. The variation in types of regional consciousness meant that Southeast Asian regional cooperation in these years took different historical forms. The practice of this early cooperation left an important legacy of regional norms in the development of the “Asian Way,” centered on regional autonomy, sovereign equality, nonintervention, consensus decision-making, informal incrementalism and emphasis on economic development, rejection of multilateral military cooperation and a pan-Asian spirit. This legacy has established the necessary normative foundation for the construction of sub-regional cooperation in Southeast Asia and the establishment of the ASEAN Way. Moreover, the early practice of Southeast Asian regional cooperation has proved that the “Asian Way” represents a common “Asian experience” for regional cooperation in Southeast Asia and even for the whole of Asia.