East and South Asia Overview

• Author: Roger Martella and J. Brett Grosko
• Pages: 737-737

CHAPTER 36

East and South Asia Overview

ROGER MARTELLA AND J. BRETT GROSKO

Since the 1960s, a number of South and East Asian nations have experienced

tremendous and rapid economic growth. This has been especially true in

China, with the opening of the economy by reforms led by Deng Xiaoping in

1978, and in India with the economic reforms begun in 1991 under the guid-

ance of then finance minister Manmohan Singh. Rapid growth also was expe-

rienced in Japan during the 1960 to late 1980s postwar economic miracle, South

Korea since the early 1960s with the adoption of an outward-looking economic

strategy, and Vietnam since the government undertook reforms in the mid-

1980s that brought about a shift to a socialist-oriented market economy.

This rapid economic growth in Asia has lifted millions of people out of

poverty. But, during this same time, there is perhaps no area of the world

where rapid economic growth has come with greater environmental conse-

quences. China, for example, is one of the world’s largest industrial econo-

mies and consumers of energy, but also now the world’s leading emitter of

greenhouse gases. Separately, Japan relied on nuclear power as a key compo-

nent in its economic rise to offset a lack of domestic energy resources. The

2011 Fukishima disaster, however, led Japan as well as other countries to

reevaluate the use of nuclear power.

Despite rising environmental concerns, there is little sign that multinational

companies will halt their reliance on Asia as a critical component of global sup-

ply chains, commerce, and customers. Companies from this region increasingly

are looking abroad both for natural resources and trading partners. Against

this backdrop, all nations appear to be doing more to address the international

criticism of lax environmental regimes. Questions remain, however, regarding

the efficacy of both the laws that have been enacted and the mechanisms,

resources, and attitudes toward implementation and enforcement.

The following chapters aim to demonstrate what the laws look like “on

the books” in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. That said, the

actual enforcement and implementation of the laws is a more complicated

question that varies not only nation by nation, but within each province,

prefecture, or state as well. Consultation with local experts on how they are

being implemented at the national and provincial levels will be key in assess-

ing an environmental law question.

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