Japan calls on US to join Pacific trade pact after China’s application

Japan’s foreign minister called for the US to support stability in the Indo-Pacific region by joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), following China’s recent move to join the trade pact.

“It’s important for the US to be engaged in creating regional economic order, including by returning to (the negotiating table for) the CPTPP,” Toshimitsu Motegi said in a video message shown on Saturday at the Mount Fuji Dialogue, an event hosted by the Japan Center for Economic Research and the Japan Institute of International Affairs.

That comes after China and Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP in September. While the US initially played a central role in forming the bloc, Washington under former president Donald Trump withdrew its partnership in 2017.

Motegi’s remark echoed a message from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier the day saying the Japan-US alliance is the “cornerstone” of international peace and prosperity.

Motegi also emphasised that the leaders of Japan, the US, Australia and India are committed to their “Quad” defence pact, and that Tokyo will “strongly promote concrete cooperation with others including Asean and Europe in the future”.

Regarding its stance on China, Motegi said Japan “will not give up basic values and principles such as democracy, the rule of law and free trade”, while working with Beijing “in fields where we can cooperate”.

“It is important to encourage China to fulfil its responsibilities as a major power,” Motegi added.

He urged the international community to keep watching whether projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative will be “implemented in a manner that meets international standards, with openness, transparency, economic efficiency in terms of life cycle costs, and debt sustainability”.

But Motegi criticised China for benefiting from its developing country status in areas such as climate change, the World Trade Organization and development finance.

“We must correct the distorted structure in which the international community keeps supporting the development of China, which is now the world’s second-largest economy,” he said.

Source: FMT