The real reason Brexit could influence East Asia’s ‘great game’

East Asia is an extremely diverse region, not known to easily agree on many things. But nobody thought that the consequences, in particular the economic consequences, of Brexit could be anything but bad: bad for Britain, bad for the EU as a whole, and bad for the world.

Official statements from, among others, China, Japan, the United States, Australia and India – and the last three are in a political sense East Asian countries, members of the East Asian Summit – displayed a rare unanimity in urging Britain to opt to Remain.

Post Brexit, Hong Kong remains a vital trade and finance partner for Britain

East Asia’s unanimity on Brexit should come as no surprise because the most salient common characteristic of East Asia has been, and remains, the region’s focus on economic development. It was inconceivable that a country should voluntarily roll the dice with such an economically advantageous arrangement at stake. But what the referendum made clear is that emotion trumps economic logic.

So where does this leave the European Union and Britain in East Asia? First of all, there has undoubtedly been reputational damage both to the EU as a whole and to Britain. It will take some time to recover from this. At present, what stands out from Brexit is the failure of political leaderships on both sides of the English Channel.

Brexit has given democracy a bad name. The events leading up to Brexit illustrate that any good idea taken to extremes – in this case, democracy as it has it has evolved in the West since the late 20th century ­– becomes self-subverting or a caricature. Europe is not unique in this respect, only an advanced case of a global disease. Much the same phenomenon has developed on the other side of the Atlantic and in East Asia.