3. General Cooperation Agreements

The Joint Declaration and subsidiary Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity are together one of the general cooperation agreements between these parties. The Joint Declaration reflects the signatories' mutual acknowledgment that "the relationship between ASEAN and China has seen rapid, comprehensive, and in-depth growth and ASEAN and China have become important partners of cooperation." [FN97] The Plan of Action is a master plan that details the parties' joint strategy on cooperation in the realms of politics, security, economics, regional and international affairs, and a miscellaneous category of "functional cooperation" that covers matters as wide-ranging as public health, culture, media, and youth exchanges. [FN98]

Collectively, the comprehensive body of agreements between China and ASEAN is firm evidence that an exclusively Asian regional association on equal footing with the EU and NAFTA is not far from fruition. Chinese leadership of Asian economic integration is no longer a pipe dream either. However, the other components of the ASEAN Plus Three framework, Japan and Korea, should not be underestimated. They have demonstrated their potential to lead as well. While the agreements have been mutually beneficial to the parties, the true winner may ultimately be ASEAN, which has reaped the benefits of the Plus Three rivalry.

V. Conclusion

China has attempted to achieve supreme excellence by breaking its enemies' resistance, not by fighting in the most conventional usage of the term, but through agreements with ASEAN. Yet China has been fighting its "enemies" in another sense. It has been unable to put aside its animus toward Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. China's perception of its counterparts as obstacles or competitors could limit both the scope and depth of regional cooperation. Thus, the real path to supreme excellence is for China to unify divergent regional interests through sincere, transparent diplomacy. The success of Asian economic integration depends on it.