Page 12 - The Indian EYE 062422

OPINION JUNE 24, 2022 | The Indian Eye 12

China will eventually isolate them-
selves.
A section of Chinese media and
members of strategic community
reiterated the sentiment. Another
prominent Chinese commentator
argued that it will be impossible to
exclude China economically since
it is the largest economy in terms
of purchasing power parity and the
largest trading nation with most of
the Asia-Pacific countries. Chinese
observers conclude that IPEF is
bound to fail as it is a ‘political tool’
to target China and devoid of any
economic substance which will ben-
efit the Asian region.
However, a sense of alarm was
also perceptible, with Beijing declar-
ing policy measures relating to trade
and cooperation in the region while
criticizing the framework as being di-
visive at the same time. On the day
US President launched the IPEF,
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
at the UN ESCAP summit pledged
deeper cooperation with the In- Pradeep Kumar Rawat assumed charge as Ambassador of India to the People’s Republic of China, in Beijing recently (ANI Photo)
do-Pacific through better BRI proj-
ects and higher investments.
linkages with the Indo-Pacific coun- IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ness China rolling out more capi-
THE TRANS-PACIFIC ANGLE tries, Beijing is confident that eco- REGION tal investment, technology transfer
Reportedly, he also promised to nomic decoupling is not in the hori- Anxious about the threat posed and infrastructure development
proactively pursue China’s accession zon in the near future. However, the by IPEF to China’s regional eco- plans for the neighboring coun-
to the Comprehensive and Progres- cause of its concern is the “exclusive nomic clout, Chinese leaders and tries.
sive Agreement for Trans-Pacific institutional balancing” underlying analysts have called for enhancing For the smaller regional econ-
Partnership and the Digital Econo- the idea of IPEF. regional economic cooperation. omies, it does offer an opportunity
my Partnership Agreement to count- Such institutional balancing can Beijing’s pushback against Washing- to resist economic domination by
er the new trade and economic initia- be used to diminish China’s econom- ton’s IPEF strategy is likely to result one power while simultaneously
tive of the Quad alliance. ic edge in the region by pressurizing in an intense zero-sum geo-econom- compelling them to provide public
Similarly, the urgency with which Chinese economy through export ic competition. goods tailored to their needs.
Wang toured the Pacific Island Coun- controls, import screening and shift- China is likely to add more Further, competition between
tries offering them ‘comprehensive ing supply chains, which could even- teeth to its regional economic di- China and US-led institutions could
strategic partnership’ demonstrated tually reduce China’s strategic clout. plomacy. We can, therefore, wit- perhaps drive reforms within these
Beijing’s anxiety regarding IPEF. institutions that could lead to an
In a bid to undercut Washington’s improvement in the regional eco-
network of alliance and consolidate nomic architecture, ensure greater
China’s economic and military foot- supply chain resilience and enhance
print, Wang offered economic, infra- intra-regional trade. The increased
structural and security cooperation geo-economic competition in a re-
to these island countries and pledged gion with security deficits, though,
greater support in terms of humani- could also result in greater diplomat-
tarian relief and ensuring food secu- ic confrontations and further deteri-
rity and climate change mitigation. oration of regional security.
Some Chinese observers,
though, affirmed the possibility of Mayuri Banerjee is Research Analyst at
adverse impact like reduced regional Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense
trade and shift in production chain, Studies and Analyses, New Delhi
and suggested that China should Views expressed are of the author and
strengthen RCEP cooperation do not necessarily reflect the views of
through accelerating digital partner- the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the
ship negotiations with the ASEAN Government of India.
members. Moreover, analysts sug-
gested that China should leverage its This is the abridged version of the In-
geographical proximity and attrac- troduction of the book which appeared
tiveness of its markets to deepen co- Commander of Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), United States, first in the Comment section of the
operation with ASEAN, Japan and Admiral John Aquilino called on then Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane, website (www.idsa.in) of Manohar Par-
South Korea. in New Delhi in April (ANI Photo/Army Twitter) rikar Institute for Defense Studies and
In view of China’s robust trade Analyses, New Delhi on June 14, 2022

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