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World News Journal: U.S. Grabs the Leading Role at APEC to Unseat China as the Regional Leader

The major agenda of the 2010 APEC CEO Summit held in Japan on November 13 and 14 was to promote the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The final memorandum of the summit included the Pan-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). TPP was not a hotly followed topic until the U.S. developed its “meticulous involvement.”

The U.S. has strategic intentions for being involved in TPP. On the one hand, the U.S. can use TPP to fulfill its plan for the “Asian Pacific free trade region” and ensure its leading position in free investment in Asian Pacific trade. On the other hand, the U.S. can further expand its goal of having a bilateral trade agreement in East Asia, thus dividing cooperative efforts in East Asia.

Qian Liwei, a scholar at the American Institute of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the World News Journal reporter, “With the U.S. returning to Asia, China’s leading regional cooperation in Asia is undoubtedly its biggest threat. Therefore, the U.S. will interfere with the progress of trade in East Asia. It’s like China is a developer while the U.S. is a destroyer. The U.S. wants Japan and some Southeast Asian countries to be on its side, forming a new regional network.”

Source: World News Journal, November 16, 2010
http://gb.cri.cn/27824/2010/11/16/5311s3056805.htm