When I was working on my undergraduate thesis, one of the key concepts that I attempted to define was “Asia-Pacific.” Indeed, this is more than just a name of a region. There are different ways to define this region, and indeed, there are different names used in reference to this very same region. On this post, I will mention some of the definitions that I manage to gather, just to give a comparison on how defining one region may be very different (a form of construction, maybe?).
First, from the United States Department of State, or as the department calls it, “East Asia and the Pacific”:
“The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs handles international affairs with these countries and geographic entities: Australia, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region), Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, North Korea, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.”
Another definition is given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, that calls this region simply as “Asia”:
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- DPRK(Democratic People’s Republic of Korea)
- Timor-Leste
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- ROK(Republic of Korea)
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Vietnam
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan defines Japan-Asia relations, the Asia region in this respect, as:
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- China
- India
- Indonesia
- Republic of Korea
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Viet Nam
- North Korea (no diplomatic relations)
- Taiwan (no diplomatic relations)
Fourth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea gives the following definition:
- Afghanistan
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- China
- Fiji
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Samoa
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has another definition, members of which they call “economies” instead of “countries”:
| APEC Members | Date of Joining |
| Australia | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Canada | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Chile | 11-12 Nov 1994 |
| People’s Republic of China | 12-14 Nov 1991 |
| Hong Kong, China | 12-14 Nov 1991 |
| Indonesia | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Japan | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Republic of Korea | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Malaysia | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Mexico | 17-19 Nov 1993 |
| New Zealand | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Papua New Guinea | 17-19 Nov 1993 |
| Peru | 14-15 Nov 1998 |
| The Philippines | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Russia | 14-15 Nov 1998 |
| Singapore | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Chinese Taipei | 12-14 Nov 1991 |
| Thailand | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| The United States | 6-7 Nov 1989 |
| Viet Nam | 14-15 Nov 1998 |
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also pitched in, as quoted from his book Does America Need a Foreign Policy? pp. 110-111:
“It comprises an advanced industrial country in Japan, with an economy larger than that of any of the historic states of Europe; […] two countries—South Korea and Singapore—approaching the economic and technological capacity of the advanced industrial states; two large archipelagoes—the Philippines and Indonesia—composed of thousands of islands and controlling some of the major sea lanes; Thailand and Burma, two ancient nations with populations approximating those of France and Italy; and North Korea, a rogue nation developing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. A largely Muslim population is spread across the peninsular and insular expanses of Malaysia and Indonesia, the latter having the largest Muslim population of any country in the world. Finally, there is Vietnam, which has demonstrated its military prowess and fierce nationalism in wars against France, the United States, and China, and its two neighbors, Laos and Cambodia, over which it exercises a kind of domination.”
“[…] somewhat narrowly to include the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union (and its more circumscribed successor, Russia); the two regional great powers, China and Japan; and the local countries of Northeast and Southeast Asia.”
Lastly, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines the region as follows:
- Afghanistan
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei Darussalam
- Cambodia
- China
- Cook Islands
- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
- Fiji
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran, Islamic Republic of
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Kyrgyzstan
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia (Federated States of)
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- Niue
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Republic of Korea
- Russian Federation
- Samoa
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Viet Nam
- Macao, China*
- Tokelau*
Thus it can be seen from the above different definitions, how different people may define the huge region differently.
Matthew Hanzel 
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