In any case, trade agreements, however beneficial, can do little to defuse Asia’s sovereignty disputes, and it is here – the greatest current source of regional tensions – that a shared common enterprise is not only possible, but also necessary if peace is to be preserved. After all, no government in the region – whether a democracy like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines, a one-party state like China and Vietnam, or a tiny monarchy like Brunei – can acquiesce on such issues and hope to survive.
无论如何，贸易协定不管好处多大，都无法消弭亚洲主权争端，而在主权争端问题——地区紧张局势的罪魁祸首——上，共同目标不但可行，而且是维持和平的必要条件。毕竟，亚洲地区没有哪个国家——不管是日本、韩国、中国台湾、菲律宾这样的民主政体，还是中国和越南这样的一党执政国家，抑或文莱这样的微型君主国家——可以在默许这类问题的情况下生存下去。