For many Japanese, closeness to other Asian countries might mean eating Chinese food at Tokyo restaurants or swooning over good-looking South Korean film stars. But for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, it means proposing the creation of an East Asian community.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2009/nn20091117a5a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='164'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Flu strategy: Officials of Yokogawa Bridge Holdings Corp. –

speak with a consultant about how to deal with the swine flu pandemic at its headquarters in Tokyo on Oct. 7. KYODO PHOTO

The proposal, widely touted after Hatoyama took office in September, was generally welcomed when he showed up for the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum over the weekend in Singapore. But some experts say the seemingly favorable reaction may only be a result of the idea's ambiguity.

Recent heated debates in APEC have mainly focused on which countries should be included in a future multilateral framework in Asia, pushing the attempt to seek what Hatoyama calls "fraternity" in the region to the verge of becoming no more than a competition for influence between the big economies.