As the Beijing summit opens, the "ASEAN plus Three" states (meaning Japan, Korea and China) have agreed to set up a regional fund of $80 billion to cope with the effects of the financial crisis. However, it is talk until it actually goes into operation--and that might not be until next summer 2009. But the fact that Japan and China were able to work together on this may bode well for how the new Japanese prime minister Aso might be able to rejuvenate Sino-Japanese ties.
Apparently, from reading press reports, a side benefit of the summit is that it is permitting all sorts of bilateral and multilateral contacts "on the spot"--so other agreements and understandings might be reached.
What is not clear--and may not be likely--is whether the EU will get a formal agreement that might end up connecting and unifying the EU's efforts with those of "ASEAN plus"--in advance of the summit for Washington next month.
I'll assess the end result of this summit and some of the other steps the EU has been taking in economic and foreign policy to wrap up the series with a "Should the EU Feel Confident" post next week.
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