ASPAC is a regional affiliate of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), the national association of professionals, primarily academic, interested in Asian Studies. Members come from the West coast of the United States of America, as well as from Canada, Mexico, and most of the countries/areas of the Pacific region including: China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, etc.

ASPAC’s primary functions are (1) to hold an annual conference, (2) to publish peer-reviewed articles, (3) to disseminate works in progress and non-peer reviewed conference papers that are of interest to the academic community, and (4) to provide an archive for documents and photos relating to Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast.