Joe Biden’s IPEF economic pivot seen as ‘cold war strategy’, bringing China ‘sharp challenges’
- US President Joe Biden set to kick off the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework during his four-day visit to South Korea and Japan, which starts on Friday
- The framework focuses on trade, supply chain resiliency, the digital economy, infrastructure, technology, decarbonisation, clean energy, tax and anti-corruption
Joe Biden’s new economic initiative for the Indo-Pacific region, which is set to be unveiled in the coming days, is being viewed as “a cold war strategy” that will bring “sharp challenges” to China as the strategy seeks to counter Beijing’s rising influence in the region.
The US-led strategic grouping, which was announced in October, will be the Biden administration’s focal strategy for the region, and will include partnerships with regional allies revolving around fair trade, supply chain resiliency, the digital economy, infrastructure, technology, decarbonisation and clean energy, as well as tax and anti-corruption.
Washington is seeking to employ the framework to fill the void in the region left by the US’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement in 2017 by former president Donald Trump.
The US-led grouping will be a beginning to a new regional dynamic, as well as bring sharp challenges to China that are different from the past
“The US-led grouping will be a beginning to a new regional dynamic, as well as bring sharp challenges to China that are different from the past,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University.