China-US relations: Joe Biden’s Asia-Pacific trade framework to be handled with ‘caution’, Beijing advisers say

Former Chinese officials say Beijing must ‘consider’ neighbouring nations who have signed onto the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

Studying the Asia-Pacific initiative will help China take part in regional economic development and help it deal with the US, experts say

3-MIN READ3-MIN

US President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listen to other leaders joining the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:30am, 22 Jun 2022Updated: 10:49am, 7 Jul 2022

China should take an objective and cautious attitude towards US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), top-ranking former Chinese officials have said.

The IPEF, which is not a traditional free-trade agreement but seeks to establish rules covering areas from data protection to carbon emissions, was launched in Tokyo last month.

The US has said 13 Asia-Pacific nations, accounting for 40 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product, had joined – though crucially not China.

“Despite the bumpy China-US relationship and Biden’s new IPEF initiative hoping to exclude China from mainstream Indo-Pacific collaborations, we shouldn’t be too harsh and critical towards [it],” said Long Yongtu, China’s former vice-commerce minister at a forum organised by the Centre for China and Globalisation.

Many members of the trade agreement – including Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam – are signatories to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes China, and are “important partners”, said Long at the event on Sunday.

“The cautious attitude we take towards this framework includes considerations not only from the standpoint of the United States, but also the situation among other founding members. We should make them feel at ease.”

Through the IPEF, Washington hopes it can restore influence in the region, after former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement in 2017.