【正文】
SEAN states considered the US and APEC less than helpful and sympathetic during the Asian ?nancial crisis, and they found the conditionalities imposed by the IMF unpalatable. Malaysia in fact adopted measures contrary to the remendations from the IMF. It chose to unwind its ?nancial problems internally, behind protective barriers。 trade The revolutions in information technology and globalization have exerted much pressure on human life to change or to cope with the changes. In the process of such changes, divides and gaps often emerge. The information technology revolution and globalization may well exacerbate the gaps in economic development between countries and regions. As a result, the world is in danger of being divided into a part that is being more and more prosperous and a part that is not. This widening gap between the rich and poor is not desirable in terms of the stability of the international munity. 5 For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), containing the expanding gaps between the old and new member states and narrowing the various gaps that exist are being serious issues. For China, the widening disparities between the coastal provinces and the interior provinces represent a signi?cant threat to domestic stability. As the information technology revolution and globalization facilitate the movements of people, goods, money and information to an unprecedented degree, the economy of scale in the production and trade of goods and services bees increasingly important. The enhanced openness also exposes the vulnerabilities of democratic societies to international terrorism. In the ongoing processes of changes and adjustments in East and Southeast Asia, By the end of the Cold War, the consequent collapse of the former Soviet Union, the emergence of China as a major power and the Asian ?nancial crisis in 1997–1998 is important variables. China’s regional neighbors in general have been monitoring China’s approach to globalization and its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) carefully. China’s uninterrupted economic growths in the wake of the Asian ?nancial crisis and its entry into the WTO have enhanced its attraction as a market for the ASEAN states. While the ‘ASEAN plus 3’ framework has provided momentum to several promising initiatives in the region and the ASEANChina Free Trade Area has progressed better than expected, the ASEAN states share a strong consensus that this framework must not replace ASEAN, nor should it be seen as excluding other countries in the AsiaPaci?c, particularly the US. The latter’s presence has been seen as an important foundation stone and guarantor of regional security. Japan and South Korea in Northeast Asia, as well as Thailand and the Philippines in Southeast Asia, have defence alliances with the US. It has been and continues to be a major investor too. Obviously there is considerable resentment against US hegemony and unilateralism, but very few in Southeast Asia anticipate and desire the departure of the US. In recent years, Japan’s longstanding position as the economic powerhouse of Asia is widely seen to have been usurped by China. Between 1997 and 2021, Chinese puter and electrical equipment manufacturers