만일 동북아시아 지역에 자유무역지역 및 이를 협의하기 위한 대화의 창구가 세워진다면 이것은 세계적인 영향을 줄 것이 명확하다 할 수 있을 것이다. 이러한 동북아시아 지역의 자유무역지역 협의기구의 탄생을 위한 가장 이상적인 방법은 중국과 한국, 그리고 일본 등 위 지역의 주요 국가들이 이 문제를 미리 논의하는 것이다. 그러나 이러한 단일 협정은 각국의 다른 국가발전단계뿐 아니라 서로 다른 의도 때문에 가지게 되는 다른 태도로 인해 이루어지기 힘들 것이다. 이러한 점 때문에 한중일 3개국 사이에서는 힘의 불균형뿐 아니라 공동의 가치를 나눈다는 점 또한 부족하다. 힘의 균형과 가치의 형평성 유지가 없다면, 효과적인 협력관계는 상상하기 힘들 것이다. 이 논문은 먼저 전통 중국제국 붕괴의 여파로 일어난 몇몇 중요한 요인들을 논의하고, 또한 이 논문을 통해 이 지역 간 협력 속의 중국의 역할을 강화하는 "Soft Power"의 사용 가능성을 논의하고자 한다. 마지막으로, 이 논문을 통해 "아시아인의 가치관" 및 그것의 문제의 광범위한 개념과 이것들의 문제점, 그리고 이 요인들이 동북아시아 안에 현재 협력에 방해 혹은 유리한 것인지에 대하여 논의하고자 한다.

It is definitely of global influence if a free trade zone as well as a dialogue institution in the Northeast Asian region were established. The idealist way perhaps is to solve the problems in advance between China, Korea and Japan since they could be considered the kernel countries in the region. However, such a one-package arrangement is hard to reach not only because they are now at different stage of national development, but also because they hold different attitude toward each other’s intention. In this regard, there is an imbalance between the three countries in terms of power and there is also lack of commonly shared values among them. Without balance of power and without relative equilibrium of values, an effective cooperation would be hard to imagine. This paper first of all investigates some important factors as the aftermaths of the collapse of the traditional Chinese Empire，then this paper also tries to discuss the possibility of making use of "soft power" to strengthen China’s identity in the cooperation in this region. At last, this paper analyzes the far-reaching conception of "Asian values" and its problems, finding out with regret that these factors could be impeding elements to the present cooperation in Northeast Asia rather than advantageous ones.

It is definitely of global influence if a free trade zone as well as a dialogue institution in the Northeast Asian region were established. The idealist way perhaps is to solve the problems in advance between China, Korea and Japan since they could be considered the kernel countries in the region. However, such a one-package arrangement is hard to reach not only because they are now at different stage of national development, but also because they hold different attitude toward each other’s intention. In this regard, there is an imbalance between the three countries in terms of power and there is also lack of commonly shared values among them. Without balance of power and without relative equilibrium of values, an effective cooperation would be hard to imagine. This paper first of all investigates some important factors as the aftermaths of the collapse of the traditional Chinese Empire，then this paper also tries to discuss the possibility of making use of "soft power" to strengthen China’s identity in the cooperation in this region. At last, this paper analyzes the far-reaching conception of "Asian values" and its problems, finding out with regret that these factors could be impeding elements to the present cooperation in Northeast Asia rather than advantageous ones.