ABSTRACT
The ASEAN Community Vision 2025 (hereinafter referred to as “this vision”) is an important document for promoting an integration of ASEAN. As an economic cooperation deepens increasingly among ASEAN countries, especially after the outbreak of the Asian economic crisis from 1997 to 1998, ASEAN realises that regional stability and development can only be guaranteed through strengthening the cooperation in political, economic, security, social and cultural fields and establishing various mechanisms for coping with external impact. Therefore, the ASEAN Community was established, which is similar to the European Union. In September 1997, the ASEAN Vision 2020 was issued by ASEAN, which draws a blueprint for the future development of ASEAN, proposes a concept of ASEAN Community and announces that ASEAN is devoted to establishing a world-oriented community with characteristics of peace, progress and prosperity and full of developing vitality. In October 2003, at the 9th ASEAN Summit, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II was passed, which proposed to establish an ASEAN Community in 2020. In the ASEAN Community, there are 3 pillars to boost the cooperation in the fields of regional political security, economic development and socioculture: ASEAN Security Community (ASC); ASEAN Economic Community (AEC); and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). 1 In January 2007, at the 12th ASEAN Summit, the “Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015” was passed to set the founding date of ASEAN Community in advance to 2015. In February 2009, at the 14th ASEAN Summit, two blueprints were passed, i.e. Blueprint for ASEAN Political Security Community; and Blueprint for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. It was decided at the meeting to combine the above two blueprints with the “Blueprint for ASEAN Economic Community” signed at the 13th ASEAN Summit into “Route map for constructing the ASEAN Community (2009–2015)”. In November 2015, at the 27th ASEAN Summit, the “Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together” and ASEAN Community Vision 2025 were passed to set a direction for the development of ASEAN Community in the next 10 years. On December 31, 2015, the ASEAN Community was formally established.
