"The 16 countries at the East Asia Summit on Sunday agreed to consider competing Japanese and Australian proposals to expand regional co-operation.... Both plans would be based around East Asia Summit members - Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand and the 10 countries that make up the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)...." [Financial Times (10/26)]

AFP adds that "...Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd presented his counterparts with his vision for an Asia-Pacific Community, possibly by 2020, while Japanese leader Yukio Hatoyama pushed his rival plan for an East Asian Community. Rudd's scheme includes the direct involvement of the US and measures on disaster management and climate change. Hatoyama's proposal is more flexible and focused on economic cooperation...." [Agence France Presse (10/25)/Factiva]

The NYT reports that "...the proposals are often compared to an EU-style single market, but analysts say a pan-Asian economic bloc would be unlikely to have open borders, free movement of labor and common security policies...." [The New York Times (10/26)/Factiva]