Change in the Land of the Rising Sun

Yukio Hatoyama, President of Japan states that the creation of an East Asian community to support economic cooperation and national security in the wake of declining U.S. power and expanding Chinese power was one of his goals as President. In an op-ed in Wall Street Journal “'My Political Philosophy' The Banner of Party Politician Ichiro Hatoyama” he argues that the underlying structures required for the formation of a regional economic bloc were already in place and that the way to reduce bilateral tensions was to move towards greater regional integration targeting the establishment of a future common Asian currency.