This article examines how the conflict between the logic of economic liberalism and the logic of economic nationalism has evolved and interacted with political institutions during the failed merger between the Australian Stock Exchange(ASX) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX), which was the first cross-border exchange integration in Asia. ASX pursued the merger deal on the basis of increased economic efficiency, with the vision of creating the premier international exchange in the Asia-Pacific region. However, it ran into nationalist resistance led by some minority politicians in Australia. In the 2010 federal election, the incumbent Labor Party failed to win a majority of seats and came to power based on the support of minority MPs. In the end, the ASX-SGX integration attempt fell victim to politics, with the political institutional configuration attuned to the demands of nationalist opposition. This finding points out that the Asian Paradox can exist not only in military security but also in economic security and underscores the importance of understanding the domestic political institutional foundations of recent economic statecraft among great powers.