Japan, the biggest beneficiary of “RCEP is dangerous”, does not shoot fire

Entry 2020.11.16 13:21 | Revision 2020.11.16 13:21

Japan, RCEP signed the first FTA with Korea and China ‘maximum profit’
Plan to bypass India withdrawn by Chinese check
If China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region expands, it becomes harsh with the US.
The US TPP wants to rejoin, but priority can be pressed

“We must not look away from the dangers of RCEP.”

On the 16th, Japan’s Sankei Shimbun argued in an editorial on the subject of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) signed by 10 countries in Korea, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN the day before. It is worth noting that the far-right media, which are generally positive for the Japanese government’s policies of the PLD, are more concerned than increasing the RCEP, which Japan is considered the biggest beneficiary.

On this day, major Japanese media, including Sankei, feared that RCEP could have a side effect of rapidly expanding China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region, although there are clearly aspects of RCEP that are helpful to the Japanese economy. It was assessed that the Japanese government had to continue to encourage India to participate and had a great task to curb China’s influence in the United States.

Japan is the only country that has not signed a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China and Korea among the RCEP countries. The other signatories have FTAs ​​with both or at least with one country. Despite the fact that the rate of elimination of tariffs on industrial products due to the RCEP is 91.5%, which is lower than the Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement of the Integral and Progressive Circle (CPTPP, 99.9%), the achievements of Japan deserves to be applauded for leading the way to trade negotiations with the two most important trading partners. All.

However, the fact that RCEP is a China-led trade deal makes the Japanese government uncomfortable. The governments of the signatory countries, including the Blue House, emphasize that the RCEP focused on ASEAN rather than China, but trade experts shared that without China, the negotiations that had been slow since 2012 would not have accelerated.

Since the inauguration of the Trump administration, China has experienced a trade conflict with the United States and has realized the economic importance of the Asia-Pacific region. It is this fund that has been quick to sign the RCEP, which can expand its presence in the region. At first, China tried to promote the RCEP by focusing on Korea, China, Japan and ASEAN, but fearing that Japan will strengthen its breath in the region, it has reached its current form by asking to add India, Australia and New Zealand, the traditional allies. Americans.

Japan’s plans began to get distorted when India announced last year that it would abruptly pull away from RCEP. India was concerned that its trade deficit with China would grow even further and said it would eventually withdraw despite persuasive persuasion from the Japanese government. The Japanese government, which had pushed through the RCEP, including India, decided to sign an agreement that excluded India after discussions dragged on for too long and the ASEAN countries’ economies contracted sharply due to the coronavirus.

In an editorial that day, Sankei insisted: “I am very sorry for the absence of India” and that “we must persistently try to join India, which the Japanese government strongly desired.” Nikkei also wrote: “It is undeniable that the value of RCEP has decreased due to the departure from India” and “It is difficult to rush back immediately, but it is not something to give up. You have to persevere.”

India was the only country capable of taking on China on the basis of population and economic power, and in many ways it made sense with Japan in the sense that it is an ally of the United States that embraced democracy. Along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand, it is also part of a new US-led security council (QUAD) that controls China in the Asia Pacific region.

As a result, it is also a burden on the Japanese government that the possibility of China increasing influence in the Asia Pacific region has increased. China, which has a trade conflict with the United States, can use it as a means to hold back the United States by expanding transactions with Japanese companies that possess high-tech semiconductor and automobile companies. In this case, Japan cannot be free of accusations that it is an alliance of the United States and has helped the rise of China.

The Japanese government hopes that the US Biden administration will return to the TPP and verify China by signing the RCEP, but it is not easy. The Biden administration said it would not review new trade deals after taking office and is expected to do everything it can to respond to the crown and recover the national economy immediately. Even in the United States Congress, both Democrats and Republicans are negative about the TPP, saying they employed foreign countries.