ISDS Case Map
geopolitics
If the latest flare ups over the contentious territorial issues and popular anti-China sentiments in the region are anything to go by, it seems likely that uncertainty over domestic ratification of the RCEP agreement by the signatory states would persist in the days ahead.
If both the US and China join the CPTPP, and it becomes the world's largest free trade agreement, then the RCEP would recede in significance. CPTPP, comprising both the US and China, sensing more economic benefits in committing to the RCEP.
Trump said the goal of the Western Sahara consulate would be “to promote economic and trade opportunities in the region.”
Not only has India failed to agree on its own trade and investment deal with the EU, the country has failed to capture any significant share of China-based global supply chains.
China’s first FTA with an African country provides a stepping stone into the continent through the geopolitical hotspot Indo-Pacific region.
Though EU officials haven’t yet revealed the details, one senior EU diplomat said the agreement goes beyond anything Beijing has offered any foreign partner previously.
China's renewed pursuit of a free trade agreement with South Korea and Japan appears aimed at undercutting US influence and shaping regional economic cooperation on terms favorable to it.
The UK recently signaled an intention to reset its diplomatic relations, including with China. The UK seems inclined to take a more aggressive path towards China at a cost of obstructing a free trade agreement talks.
The challenge is not that the world’s biggest trade deal is China-led or heralds a Sinocentric order – both of which are misrepresentations anyway – but that the Asia-Pacific region has shown no need of US leadership or even involvement.
India’s decoupling from China led to a number of harsh steps to undermine the trade and investment relations with China, despite the fact that Chinese investment set the turf for mobile phone manufacturing in the country.
