On November 15, 2010, 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes 10 ASEAN countries plus China. After the RCEP was concluded and signed, there were media reports and commentaries that it was a China-led and China-owned regional economic agreement that excluded the United States and increased China’s leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, and so on.
This is not the case. First of all, RCEP was first initiated by the ten ASEAN countries, inviting neighboring countries to join, after more than eight years of negotiations, finally reached a 10+5 regional economic and trade agreements. Therefore, it is accurate to say that RCEP is led by ASEAN, not China. Secondly, there was originally an Indian participation, but India withdrew from the negotiations at the final stage. One reason.
China has escalated its conflict with India, particularly on the Sino-Indian border, into war or quasi-war hostilities. India has vowed not to participate in any future regional or international economic and trade agreements that include China. Thus, China’s participation in such agreements has not only failed to lead, but has also undermined them.
Furthermore, the so-called “exclusion of the United States” is an illusion. Among the fifteen countries, including China, the United States is considered the largest export market. In particular, after the outbreak of the trade war between the United States and China, industrial and supply chains have shifted from China to ASEAN countries, and the U.S. market has become the terminus of ASEAN countries. The U.S. market has become the terminus of all ASEAN countries. The countries’ reliance on U.S. technology products is irreplaceable, and they are ranked as the number one import market.
Given that China is the second largest economy in the world and the first in Asia, does RCEP increase China’s leadership? This is illustrated by the significance of the RCEP, which provides for mutual tariff reductions and exemptions until zero tariffs are achieved within ten years. This includes, “zero tariff reduction immediately upon entry into force of the agreement,” “zero tariff reduction during the transition period” (including 10 years), “partial tariff reduction,” and a small amount of “zero tariff reduction”. There are four broad categories of goods, including “excepted products.
The Achilles heel of the RCEP is that China, the largest economy and largest trading partner in the agreement, is unlikely to abide by it, and it is known for being the least committed to its commitments. China’s rise has been based on a coercive pattern of imposing high tariffs on other countries’ products, allowing Chinese products to be dumped at low prices, and taking advantage of other countries through unequal trade.
Around the time of China’s signing of the Fourteen Nations Agreement, the Chinese Communist Party imposed and increased economic sanctions on Australia simply because Australia demanded an investigation into the source of the Great Plague (COVID-19). High tariffs on Australian barley, beef, wine, and other commodities progressed to restrictions on Australian wheat, lobster, and cotton imports, and then to restrictions on Australian coal imports.
China was originally the largest importer of Australian coal, but just as China signed RCEP with Australia and other countries, large amounts of Australian coal were stuck in Chinese customs. In fact, more than 50 Australian cargo ships carrying 5.7 million tons of coal, which arrived in China under a bilateral trade contract, have been stuck in Chinese ports for a month or more. China’s refusal to release them because of “security checks” is a deliberate attempt to make things difficult for them out of political retaliation.
In other words, Beijing had just signed the contract and was in breach of it. The Chinese Communist Party’s actions against Australia are a warning to all countries that China’s accession to RCEP is not so much a demonstration of leadership as a demonstration of delaying power, or destructive power. China’s accession to the RCEP is more than a demonstration of leadership; it is a demonstration of delaying power or destructive power. How has China, a member of the World Health Organization, complied with the International Health Regulations? When China joined the World Trade Organization, how did it comply with the basic rules of the organization? But it has generated the most lawsuits and the most defeats. The Chinese Communist Party’s record of membership in international organizations is like a bison breaking into a china store, bringing one thriller after another to the world.
Recent Comments