CEAC was established in 2004 in order to participate, as a representative of Japan, in the activities of the epistemic community in East Asia including such frameworks organized at the request of the ASEAN+3 Summit in 2003 as the Network of East Asian Think tanks (NEAT) and the East Asia Forum (EAF). Since then, CEAC has been following and acting upon the trend of regional cooperation and integration in East Asia.
　To date, East Asia has witnessed moves toward regional integration and cooperation as exemplified by the establishment of the ASEAN, as well as evolving intricate disputes over territory and the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, for instance. That brings to light the importance of Track-2-level diplomacy and all-Japan discussions at an intellectual platform that supports such diplomacy. CEAC is committed to exerting itself as an organization standing at the frontier of such intellectual enterprises.
　With your help and advice, I am ready to be entrusted and to work on so as to achieve the goals that CEAC is tasked with.

Chairman
HASHIMOTO Hiroshi