REUBEN Y. WONG is a Lecturer in European Politics and International Relations at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He was First Secretary at the Singapore Embassy in Paris from 1995 to 1998. Dr Wong is a Council Member of the Singapore Institute for International Affairs and Liaison Officer for Antonians in Singapore and Malaysia.

This study examines the record of French and EU interactions with China, Japan and Vietnam in the areas of economic exchanges, political security relations and human rights to establish if there has been a trend of converging 'European' politics and collective European conceptions of interest and identity. It argues that the utility and impact of EU institutions on French foreign policy behaviour is more significant than is commonly imagined or admitted, and that foreign policies of EU member states tend over the long term towards convergence.