In particular, one of the challenges facing the Chinese state is how to keep
together a country that is not only undergoing incredible economic
transformation, but also is developing in such an uneven way. The coastal
cities are booming but the rural interior is ( e ) depopulation as economic
migrants head to the cities. It is possible that economic and ethnic divisions
within China could cause the break-up of China. If this happens, talk of an
Asian Union would become meaningless. It could be argued that the survival
of the Chinese state during the 21" century might be an achievement of "Asian
Union" that far exceeds what the European Union has managed,
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