陸克文在就任澳洲總理後，於2008年6月初在雪梨（Sydney）澳亞中心亞洲學會（Asia Society Australiasia）發表演講時出人意料之外地提議於2020年之前籌建一個類似歐盟（EU）的亞太共同體（Asia-Pacific Community）的組織，引起澳洲國內以及亞太各國的關切與議論。令人不解的是，亞太經濟合作會議（APEC）是在前澳洲總理霍克（Bob Hawke）倡議下而在1989年成立的。陸克文做此提議莫非是有意與其工黨（ALP）老前輩唱反調亦或是另有他圖？其次是為何選在此時作此提議？而此一提議究竟是隨興發言抑或是經過深思熟慮？此外，在他做此提案前是否曾與相關國家討論過抑或是未經協商的唐突之舉？更重要的是，此一倡議的實質內涵為何？是否有實現的可能？而對台灣言究竟是契機抑或是危機？應該如何因應？本文將試圖就這些謎團一一予以剖析。首先將簡述其內涵，繼而解析其做此倡議的背景與意義，終而討論此一提案可行性以及台灣的因應對策之建言。

Kevin Rudd who led the Australian Labor Party to win the election in November 2007 proposed in June 2008 to set up Asia-Pacific Community (APC) by 2020. His proposal surprised many people inside and outside Australia. ?The initial responses from the international community were largely lukewarm, except China.? However, with the election of Barak Obama as the US President, chances of the realization of the proposal seem increasing, because Obama is in favor of multilateralism. The positive atmosphere nevertheless has encounters a new challenge posed by the Kevin Rudd Government itself in May 2009, when the Government publicized Defence White Paper 2009：Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030.? Suspicious of Rudd’s true intention, China now holds a reserved attitude toward his APC proposal.? This paper is aimed to explore the proposal.