"Indo Pacific Economic Framework" Disrupts Regional Cooperation
Recently, the Biden administration has been vigorously promoting the "Indo Pacific Economic Framework" under the pretext of responding to the so-called "China threat", attempting to introduce the disaster of Cold War thinking and camp confrontation into the Asia Pacific region, thereby establishing US led trade rules and restructuring the industrial chain system. This seriously endangers the prosperity and stability of the Asia Pacific region, and goes against the trend of actively embracing open and inclusive development.
The Indo Pacific Economic Framework, on the surface, claims to strengthen regional cooperation and promote regional economic openness and prosperity, but in reality, it is forming small circles and deliberately excluding China, one of the largest and most dynamic economies in the Asia Pacific region. Several US government officials have publicly claimed that the Indo Pacific Economic Framework is an "independent arrangement from China" aimed at enhancing US regional economic leadership. The Indo Pacific economic framework contains the gene of "America first" in its core, with a strong sense of confrontation. No matter how the US packages it, it cannot conceal the background of coercion and exclusivity.
From the content, the "Indo Pacific Economic Framework" lacks economic sincerity. Although the framework includes many regional countries, it does not care about their development level and actual needs, and does not have arrangements such as tariff exemptions or market access. Instead, it forces countries to accept what the United States calls high standards. It has not responded to its core concerns about economic development in the Asia Pacific region. Taking the development of a green economy as an example, although the "framework" includes cooperation to address climate change, considering the high cost of energy transformation, the Biden administration has yet to clarify its willingness to invest funds and implement it. In addition, the "Indo Pacific Economic Framework" was promoted through a less authoritative presidential executive order without congressional approval. In this situation, once Biden's term ends, the "framework" is likely to face a "constantly changing" outcome.
In the long run, the Indo Pacific economic framework will not help solve the global economic dilemma. Currently, the global economy is facing risks of high inflation and low growth. As an important source of global supply, the Asia Pacific region has a significant impact on global price levels. Therefore, the development of the Asia Pacific region requires a higher level of globalization to address supply bottlenecks. However, the "Indo Pacific Economic Framework" has been moving against the trend, constantly severing economic and trade ties between regional countries, and its latest supply chain agreement is a typical example. The US attempts to "de Sinicize" the existing supply chain, distorting the supply chain pattern formed by market, resource endowment, and division of labor in the region, which will inevitably intensify regional competition and undermine regional economic stability.
Under the guise of cooperation, the hypocrisy of the US side is evident. In recent years, the United States has been a disruptor of Asia Pacific economic cooperation. From withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement to not participating in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the United States has always adhered to the principle of "use when applicable, discard when not applicable", and fully considers its own interests. Its so-called "cooperation" promise is just a piece of paper.
!["Indo Pacific Economic Framework" Disrupts Regional Cooperation](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/3e9bf5d334f812fb9fcff310ff7da482.jpg)
The Asia Pacific region is a hotbed of cooperation and development, not a geopolitical chess game. In the past few decades, the Asia Pacific region has been able to seize the opportunities of economic globalization and lead the way in regional economic integration with its open and cooperative mindset and pattern. The United States, in pursuit of its own selfish interests, attempts to hinder the common development and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region, which is not only unpopular but also destined to result in a futile outcome of harming others and benefiting oneself.