US hopes to increase influence through Trans-Pacific Partnership

BEIJING / WASHINGTON - The United States is showing a growing desire to increase its influence in the Asia-Pacific region by leading the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a development that China needs to closely monitor, analysts said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington will step up its efforts to play the leading role in the region.

"To those in the region, I say the United States is determined not just to re-engage but to lead," Clinton said in a speech at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) senior officials' meeting in Washington.

Chinese researchers said that Beijing should pay attention to this and how it will affect developments in the region.

"China should stick to its strategy of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, while studying the situation carefully," He Weiwen, a standing council member of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said on Thursday.

According to Clinton, the TPP will help the US lead the region, and the US intends to "make substantial progress toward agreement on all key issues of the TPP within the coming months.

Clinton's remarks came a few days after she made a strongly worded comment at the US Senate, saying the US is facing direct competition from China, especially in Asia.

The US will host the annual APEC summit in Hawaii in November.

He, from the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said the TPP is part of the Washington's global strategic expansion.

"By boosting its presence and taking the leading role in the region, the US has gained geopolitical advantages," he said.

The US had largely reduced its presence in the Asia-Pacific region since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and especially since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, Washington launched its "back-to-Asia" strategy as the government began to regard the dynamic region as the most important front on which to jumpstart its sluggish domestic economy and the key to doubling its exports in five years.

Currently, the TPP includes nine countries - Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam and the US.

Zhang Yunling, director of the division of international studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the US may use the TPP to impose new rules and standards on China.

"The US will strive to resume its leading role in the region," Zhang said.

"If China wants to join the TPP, it has to accept terms set by the US," he added.

During her speech, though Clinton did not mention trade disputes with China, she said that the US is looking for "a level playing field without government manipulation".

According to He, China should be cautious, as the US may use the closer ties as a lever to put more pressure on China's currency exchange rate.

"Through a closer trade relationship within the TPP, export competition between China and surrounding countries will become fiercer," He said.

"This may cause more conflicts over the exchange rate between China and other economies in the region," He added.

While trade frictions have been growing between the world's top two economies over the past few years, the US has been busy forming new alliances in the Asia-Pacific region.

China Daily

(China Daily 03/11/2011 page11)