THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS THE VISION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AMONGST NATIONS - AS CHINA KNOWS WELL WITH ENCOUNTERING AN ECONOMIC BLOCK OF 625 MILLION PEOPLE OF ASEAN - CHINA BULLIES ITS WAY ACROSS THE SOUTH SEA TO ITS FUTURE DEMISE

The term “Asia” – coined by the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus to describe what lay east of Anatolia – can be used only in referring to the continent, the world’s largest and most diverse by far, but not in the context of any particular attributes.
The values of, say, a Syrian are so very different from those of, say, a Korean, that any talk of the erstwhile, much-ballyhooed “Asian values” is meaningless.
The “Asian economic miracle” is all right so long as it is clear we are talking about maybe just over a half-dozen economies that have escaped poverty and the middle-income trap. Vast swathes of the Asian continent remain mired in poverty.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jplehmann/2016/01/23/asean-from-battlefield-to-marketplace-an-asian-role-model/#62c7a3cd4b26

OASIS OF STABILITY
In looking at this Asian panorama, comparatively speaking - and I stress "comparatively" - South-east Asia, the Asean region, stands out as an oasis of stability. For one thing, South-east Asia is the only Asian region that has no nuclear weapons; in West Asia, there are nuclear arsenals in Israel and possibly in Iran, in Central Asia in Pakistan, in South Asia in India, and in North-east Asia in China and in North Korea.
In contrast, at the end of last year, the Asean Economic Community was established, aiming to bring about further integration in the markets of the 10 Asean member nations. Next year, on Aug 8, Asean will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding as the Association of South-east Asian Nations.
Back in 1967 - when I was in the first year of my doctoral studies at the Far East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford - no one in his wildest dreams could have dared hope that, one day, South-east Asia would be deemed the most peaceful and stable region of Asia.

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/from-battlefield-to-marketplace