<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-seeks-to-join-pacific-trade-pact-after-u-s-forms-new-security-alliance-11631813201?page=1" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-seeks-to-join-pacific-trade-pact-after-u-s-forms-new-security-alliance-11631813201?page=1</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">China Seeks to Join Pacific Trade Pact After U.S. Forms New Security Alliance<o:p class=""></o:p></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">By Lingling Wei<span style="font-size: 11pt;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">9/16/2021<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">NEW YORK—China has formally applied to join an 11-nation Asia-Pacific trade pact, seeking to draw traditional American allies into its economic orbit as competition for alliances heats up between Beijing and Washington.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The announcement that China will try to join a pact that was initially championed by former President Barack Obama to counter China came a day after the Biden administration unveiled <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-forms-a-new-security-alliance-for-asia-with-the-u-k-and-australia-11631741734?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">a new security partnership with the U.K. and Australia</a> in the Indo-Pacific as Beijing’s influence grows in the region.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">China’s Commerce Ministry announced Thursday that it submitted the application for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP in short, to New Zealand, the depositary member of the agreement.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">“It underscores that both the U.S. and China are actively courting partners and looking for coalitions to join or create to promote their interests,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, a think tank, and a former senior U.S. trade negotiator.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">As <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-trump-xi-china-economic-trade-strategy-policy-11609945027?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">tensions between the U.S. and China</a> continue to rise on many fronts, both President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have stepped up the tug of war for global leadership.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">With its application for the CPTPP membership, Mr. Xi is seizing on the irony of seeking to join a pact with standards set by American negotiators but rejected by a U.S. president. In 2017, former President <a href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/donald-trump" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">Donald Trump</a> pulled the U.S. out of an early version of the deal, complaining it was a job killer. Mr. Biden has said it needs to be renegotiated before he would consider joining.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Within China, some analysts have described Beijing’s desire to join the CPTPP as the leadership’s continued commitment to embracing international standards—even though recent policy and regulatory actions taken by the Chinese government run counter to most market-based provisions under the pact, which calls for <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-new-power-play-more-control-of-tech-companies-troves-of-data-11623470478?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">free flows of data</a>, revamping state-owned enterprises and better protection of intellectual property.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">“The leadership sees joining the CPTPP as a good way to further the openness of the Chinese economy,” said Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing think tank. Mr. Wang’s team proposed to the central leadership that China consider joining the trans-Pacific partnership as soon as Mr. Trump got the U.S. out of it.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Initially, the idea of participating in something that was originally championed by the U.S. had met a lot of resistance among various ministries and agencies in Beijing. Mr. Xi’s declaration last year that China would favorably consider joining the pact put the debate to an end.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Thursday’s announcement by China’s Commerce Ministry also said its minister Wang Wentao had held a teleconference with his Australian counterpart, Damien O’Connor, to discuss follow-up work related to China’s application for accession.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Having made the CPTPP application, China now needs to be accepted as a working party by the members of the pact.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Analysts say Beijing’s submission could cause friction among the members. Some of them, including Japan, have already said China must demonstrate its willingness and ability to meet the CPTPP standards to be accepted into the club. Others, such as Singapore, are more receptive to Beijing’s participation.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The accession process could take years, if not decades, trade experts say. Some worry that Beijing could tie the West up in endless negotiations without actually completing any agreement.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">“China has nothing to lose by expressing its interest in joining the CPTPP agreement, but a lot to gain,” Ms. Cutler said.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In years past, China generally preferred a divide-and-conquer strategy, dealing with countries one by one, rather than in multilateral forums, but being locked in a painful tit-for-tat trade battle with the Trump administration has prompted a re-evaluation of that strategy.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">For Mr. Xi, multilateral approaches are now seen as easier to deal with and more effective, say officials and foreign-policy experts. In fact, Beijing now rarely talks about preferring unilateral negotiations. Instead, it has stepped up efforts to build alliances of nations sharing a common goal, especially in trade and investment, and has focused efforts on getting more sway at <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-china-is-taking-over-international-organizations-one-vote-at-a-time-11601397208?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">multilateral organizations like the United Nations</a>.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In November, Beijing signed a regional trade pact, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/asia-pacific-nations-sign-major-china-backed-trade-deal-11605434779?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership</a>, with 14 other nations, including Japan, South Korea and Australia. Beijing’s interest in completing the pact grew with each trade sanction from the Trump administration.</p><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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