東亞地區的經濟整合運動始自於1967年的東南亞國家協會（東協），由於她是小國區域主義的一個嘗試與類型，屬於一種次區域組織，軍事安全仰賴大國，經濟難以自主，因此成立以後的功能並不顯著。1997年東南亞金融危機以後，東協和南韓、香港等受害最深的國家和地區由於未能在體制內獲得開發國家之協助，遂體悟到唯有尋求區域內國家間直接的經濟合作，才是東亞國家自我救濟的有效途徑，因此由東協主導，中共、日本與南韓繼起響應，並以簽署自由貿易協定方式而展開的東亞經濟整合運動遂應運而生。目前這項經濟整合運動正以「東協＋3」與「東協＋1」兩種型式在進行之中，東亞地區的重要經濟體都被吸納在內，只有我國被排擠在外。面對此一情勢發展，我們應及早籌謀對策，否則恐怕有被「邊緣化」之虞。

The idea of an East Asia economic integration was first rooted in the foundation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967. Due to the great power rivalry in Southeast Asia area and the intra-ASEAN power conflicts, however, there had been little achievement regarding the regional economic integration in ASEAN's early years. After the 1997 Asian financial crisis that devastated most East Asian economies, those hit most by the slump in ASEAN, together with South Korea and Hong Kong, began to realize the fact that it was imperative to establish a system of closer regional economic cooperation to make the region more resilient and less vulnerable to similar attacks in the future. The crisis thus catalyzed East Asian efforts towards greater economic integration. At the present time, economic integration in East Asia is looming to take the "hub and spoke" characteristic under the forms of ASEAN-plus-three (10+3) and ASEAN-plus-one (10+1), in which the ASEAN members take the lead, China, Japan and South Korea the relatively late-comers. Unfortunately, Taiwan has been totally excluded from participation in the moves toward deeper economic integration in East Asia despite its close investment and trade ties with the region. As a result, we need to move with all possible haste to formulate a workable strategy to respond to this changing environment and to avoid becoming marginalized from the process of Asian economic integration.