31.03.2023
The United Kingdom has obtained the consent of the member states of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to join the CPTPP to further increase its influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Previously, Taiwan and China also applied to join. Now that the UK has set a precedent, who will be next?
(Voice of Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Rishi Sunak) announced on Friday (March 31) that the United Kingdom has reached an agreement with the members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and will join CPTPP. After the details are finalized, it will officially become the 12th member state and the first European country to join the CPTPP.
Sunak said it was the biggest trade deal struck since Brexit, a move that put the country at the “core of a dynamic Pacific economy”. He said joining the CPTPP showed the real benefits of post-Brexit freedom to the UK economy.
Reuters pointed out that the overall economic benefits brought by the CPTPP to the UK are not expected to be large. Britain says the agreement will cut tariffs on cars, spirits and dairy products and in the long run will boost the British economy by 1.8 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) a year; that figure will increase if more countries join in the future.
Nikkei Asia reported that after the details are finalized, the CPTPP and the UK are expected to sign relevant documents in July. The United Kingdom will officially become the newest member when countries complete the ratification process.
The picture shows British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaking in Parliament in late March this year.
The agreement was formerly known as the “Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement” (TPP), which was changed to CPTPP after the United States announced its withdrawal in 2017. At present, the member countries include Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, Peru, Malaysia, Chile and Brunei. After 11 countries signed the agreement in 2018, the CPTPP will come into force. After Brexit, the United Kingdom applied to join the agreement in 2021, and relevant negotiations began in June of the same year.
more political than economic
According to the “Financial Times” report, the UK joined the CPTPP because of the country’s government’s economic considerations after Brexit, as well as its diplomatic “Indo-Pacific tilt“(Indo-Pacific Tilt) policy, hoping to create links with fast-growing economies in the Indo-Pacific region, and Japan has always supported Britain’s accession.
The British government stated that if they successfully join, the scale of CPTPP’s global gross domestic product (GDP) will expand from 12% to 15%, which will also increase the UK’s GDP by 0.08%.
The report pointed out that according to the forecast figures of the British government, the benefit of the British economy is minimal, which will not help offset the impact of Brexit on the UK.
The report also pointed out that the UK’s accession to the CPTPP is controversial. As part of the deal, the UK will remove import duties on Malaysian palm oil, a product blamed for the country’s massive deforestation.
Nevertheless, British Prime Minister Sunak believes that the agreement has important economic and strategic significance, and joining the CPTPP will give the UK a place in the Indo-Pacific region. The Nikkei also quoted experts who said that Britain’s entry into the CPTPP has more political significance than economic significance at this stage.
In mid-March, leaders of the Anglo-American-Australian Alliance (AUKUS) met in San Diego, USA.
Taiwan and China also apply to join CPTPP
September 2021,Both China and Taiwan apply to join CPTPP. China and Asia-Pacific countries have signed the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” (RCEP); if China joins the CPTPP, China will become a member of the two largest free trade agreements in the region. Taiwan is excluded from RCEP, and China also opposes Taiwan’s accession to CPTPP.
Song Wendi, an expert on Taiwan issues at the Australian National University, told DW at the time that “many Southeast Asian countries may be more conservative towards Taiwan (joining)”. He believes that most member states will express a vague welcome to China and Taiwan diplomatically, but will not make specific commitments.
Singapore and Malaysia haveChina welcomes joining CPTPP, while Japan takes a cautious stance on this, saying it will observe whether China can abide by the high standard rules of the agreement. After the United Kingdom joins the CPTPP, how the member states will deal with the applications from China and Taiwan will also become the focus; in addition, countries such as Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay are also applying to join the CPTPP.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency quoted Japan’s Fuji Evening News on the 31st as saying that how the CPTPP handles the UK’s accession has become a “touchstone” for other countries to join. Shimada Yoichi, a professor at Fukui Prefectural University in Japan, pointed out that the prerequisite for joining the CPTPP is “fully agreeing to accept the rules”; now that the UK joins the CPTPP on this premise, “of course Taiwan will join next,” but “the Southeast Asian countries that are closer to China Whether to agree or not will be an issue.”
The report also pointed out that Japan has always had doubts about whether China can abide by the CPTPP rules. However, if China joins Taiwan first, Taiwan is likely to be hindered.
On the other hand, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting last year that AustraliaUnlikely to support Taiwan joining CPTPPsaying that “CPTPP is a relationship between recognized independent countries” and that “Taiwan (in APEC) represents an economy.”
Afterwards, Australia clarified to Taiwan that Australia’s position on Taiwan’s accession to CPTPP has not changed, and Australia still welcomes all economies that meet the high standards of CPTPP, including Taiwan, to join.
(comprehensive report)
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