Recently, US President Biden visited Japan and held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. After the talks, the two sides attended a joint press conference, and Biden officially announced the launch of the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework", and the goal is also very clear, that is, to point the sword at China!
The United States and Japan have reached an anti-China front
The "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" (IPEF) launched by the United States is the economic pillar of the Us "Indo-Pacific Strategy", the core of which is the so-called "fair trade", "supply chain" and "decarbonization and infrastructure". The Biden administration hopes it can become a new framework to replace the TPP that exited during the Trump administration, and confidently believes that this framework "will prove competitive in the 21st century, while ensuring credibility in the digital age, strengthening supply chains, and preventing corruption."
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio also showed great enthusiasm for this framework, stating that Japan will definitely participate, and saying that "Japan highly appreciates the intention of the United States to show positive attention and participation in the Indo-Pacific region from the economic level" and called for "the importance of achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region."
As for the view that ASEAN "has no advantage" in this framework, Kishida Fumio also vigorously defended the framework, saying that the most important thing is to actively cooperate through this platform.
ASEAN countries are not positive
Previously, US President Biden had vigorously promoted the "Indo-Pacific economic framework" at the US-ASEAN special summit, but the effect was not good. Because the United States, out of the interest of protecting its own employment, has not provided the expanded market access that Asian countries want, and the IPEF is likely to focus more on setting rules than opening up markets, although there are 7 ASEAN countries in the first 13 countries to start negotiations announced so far, this structure is difficult to attract Southeast Asian countries to join, and it is unknown whether the negotiations will achieve the results that the United States wants.
Answering a reporter's question after talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawar, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China, like regional countries, is happy to see initiatives conducive to strengthening regional cooperation, but opposes attempts to create separatist confrontation. China believes that the criteria for evaluation should be "three shoulds and three should nots". First, we should promote free trade, not disguised protectionism. Second, it should contribute to the recovery of the world economy and should not undermine the stability of the industrial chain. Third, we should promote openness and cooperation, and should not create geopolitical confrontation. Trying to isolate China with a framework will ultimately isolate themselves. If some rules are made up to exclude China, they will inevitably be abandoned by the development of the times.