5.5.6 West Pacific Economic Zone (WPEZ)
It has been predicted by a Chinese economist (Wang Jian) that within the next decade three major economic regions will exist - NAFTA, EU and WPEZ. Wang foresees the initial membership of WPEZ consisting of China , Japan , Taiwan , Hong Kong, and South Korea before expanding to include the Russian Far East and the ASEAN countries. The population of WPEZ would then exceed the combined population of NAFTA and the EU. Part of Wang's rationale (Cheong 2001, p. 16) is that these countries complement each other in that they consist of:
.natural resources in the Russian Far East, labour in mainland China , capital and technology in Japan , manufacturing traditions in Taiwan and South Korea , and management skills in Hong Kong .
An interesting question is that of Australia 's position within these three potential regional blocs. After AUSFTA, a new formation of NAFTA may be possible.
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