• The term was promoted by the US, Japan and Australia
starting from 1960s and 1970s as a design linking Asia
with the wider Pacific region
• Asia-Pacific highlights the Asian dimension in a way that
the term “Pacific region” does not. “Asia” or “East Asia”
would exclude powers like the US and Australia
• “Far East” is Eurocentric, dated and even colonial in
outlook
• The most important reason in using the term “AsiaPacific”
is to justify the involvement of the US in Asian
affairs