Four Asian nations in power transition asked to have summit meeting at DMZ

Any one to study the history of the Far East Asia can easily realize how much it is difficult to grow the seeds of trust in the soil of those four countries; China, Japan, North & South Korea.

This is true either for people or more critical for the politicians. Wars and their victims have been the common elements among all of those countries and peoples.

This winter, similar to what we had in the Middle East of radical changes in the corners of political scene; for the previous two years, namingly the Arab Spring, we have the peaceful Asian winter transitions and changes right in those lands, islands and shores of a very active region.

Today, new president has been elected for the Republic of Korea; several days ago in Japan, Abe Shinzo’s  Liberal Democratic Party won overwhelmingly in the general election. Last month, China’s Premier Xi Jinping came to power. Even the one year old regime of Kim Jong-un, North Korea, could be considered having his new birth last week, as well, when he supervised, himself, the operation of launching the famous space rocket and satellite. It seems a very complicated scene that reminds me with a fable from Tibet, of mice and a cat.

Once upon a time there was a cat that lived in a large farmhouse in which there were a great number of mice. For many years the cat found no difficulty in catching as many mice as she wanted to eat. But as time passed on she found that she was growing old and infirm, and that it was becoming more and more difficult for her to catch the same number of mice as before. So, she called all the mice together, and after promising not to touch them, she addressed them as follows:

“Oh! Mice,” said she, “I have called you together in order to say something to you. The fact is that I have led a very wicked life, and now, in my old age, I repent of having caused you all so much inconvenience and annoyance. So I am going for the future to turn over a new leaf. It is my intention now to give myself up entirely to religious contemplation and no longer to molest you. All I ask of you is that twice every day you should all file past me in procession and each one make an obeisance as you pass me by, as a token of your gratitude to me for my kindness.” Mice agreed, and the cunning old cat had arranged a little plan to seize the last mouse in her claws without anybody else noticing.

Returning to the real life, of the newly coming to rule, all of the four leaders are thinking of what happened to the mice in the Tibetan folktale, and every single leader of them wants to act like the cat. The situation is that no one wants to be the last mouse as the economy, climate, energy and demography problems are growing, looking like huge mice all around the four cats of the region. Then, what is the solution?

I appreciated Mr. Lee Sang-ki’s call for the four leaders of the Republic of Korea, China, Japan and DPRK. The CEO & Publisher of the AsiaN suggested to have a summit meeting at the symbolic region of the DMZ, which marks the last divided nation in the world, in 2013. This meeting – I guess- could be called the magic touch needed to finalize the superiority of the Far East region, and it even could launch the new era for the Asian Century.

It is not acceptable, at this serious moment of change to welcome the 4 leaders with criticism; rather we are arguing them to think of the advantages of the powerful unity of them. A strong Asia will never be possible without having those 4 powers together. On the backyard of the scene, other powers – such as Russia and USA – are utilizing not having those 4 pillars of the Asian economy united.

As the world witness the launch of North Korean rocket, the winning of Noble prizes in literature and medicine by two figures from China and Japan, a new star in the world of entertainment and technology, as represented by the Korean singer Psy, and the Korean industrial giant Samsung, the whole world is hoping to consider a new direction, they may find, at last, the revival of a new Silk Road that would bring prosperity for the whole world, especially the Arab countries.

The folktale’s end was a disaster for the cat, as friends of the disappeared mice discovering the cat’s plan. They united to get rid of the cat. And, they could. So, it is not to be a cat or a mouse, it is to think of your future, and the future of next generations, things do not always remain icy, some heat will retain the river to flow; a river that could connect the four countries, for the sake of their peoples, and the whole humanity.