After years of negotiations, a deal was struck on October 5 to
conclude the 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which does not
include China.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Japan views the agreement as
key to its economic and security goals as China expands its influence in
the region, especially in Southeast Asia, where Japan has long been a
major investor and aid donor.
“We will help promote regional growth, prosperity and stability by
deepening economic ties with countries that share values such as
freedom, democracy, basic human rights, and rules of law,” Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe said recently.
According to some Chinese analysts, the United States deliberately
sought to form the TPP in order to block China. “Will China join? Does
the TPP led by the US intend to contain China?” asked Fudan University
professor Feng Wei on his verified Weibo social media account.
The agreement will lower barriers to the exchange of goods and
services among members, which in the Asia-Pacific region also includes
Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. Even
though China was invited to join the trade group, Beijing has been
reluctant to comply with many of the required rules, such as opening up
the financial sector, reported The Wall Street Journal.
By not being a founding member, experts say, China misses the
opportunity to help shape an important pillar of the global trading
system – a priority for China’s President Xi Jinping.
“The key is whether China’s domestic reforms will be enough or
sufficient. If they are not, it will have to follow the US and lose its
chance with the TPP to help make the rules,” said Shi Yinhong, director
of the Center on American Studies at Renmin University.
http://neurope.eu/article/tpp-deal-concluded-without-china/