U.S. President Joe Biden, pictured here on Thursday, April 21, 2022, launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with a dozen initial partners.
Yuri Gripas | Abaka | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The United States on Monday announced an Indo-Pacific economic framework with its Asian partners, in a move to boost its economic profile and create another balance towards China in Asia.
It is a comprehensive plan designed to help the United States expand its “economic leadership” in the Indo-Pacific region. The group seeks to set international rules for the digital economy, supply chain, decarbonization and regulations for workers.
Importantly, the IPEF is not a free trade agreement. US President Joe Biden has faced political pressure from both the left and the right in the United States to avoid a free trade agreement.
Nor is it a security deal, and apart from the Quad Defense Group, which includes the United States, Japan, India and Australia, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Sunday.
Despite avoiding trade deals, the United States seeks to increase its profile in the Asian economic region, where US allies Japan and South Korea boast of large economies, and China, a member of the Quad, jumps and expands its borders with China.
According to Ali Wayne, a senior analyst at Eurasia Group’s Global Macro, the United States “needs to increase its economic competitiveness in the region.”
“Even countries that have significant and growing concerns about China’s foreign policy and strategic intentions appreciate that they cannot be meaningfully isolated from its economy in the short term,” Owen said. Economic Framework. “
Biden met with regional leaders about the IPEF and Quad in Tokyo this week.
U.S. officials have been careful to avoid mentioning China in the IPEF negotiations, and China has claimed that it is a “closed” group.
The main goal of Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan is to try to create a new political stance against China by establishing an alliance around Washington in the Asia-Pacific region, China’s state-run media outlet Global Times reported on Saturday.
Sullivan told reporters on Sunday that he was not surprised that “China has concerns about the number of countries that have shown interest and enthusiasm in the IPEF, the diversity of countries.”
This is a breaking news and will be updated soon.
