On May 23, the Joe Biden administration took a significant step to turn the clock back to the Obama Presidency by launching its own version of a “pivot to Asia” through the establishment of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with other partner countries — Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Within days of its launch, IPEF expanded its membership to the Pacific Island states, with Fiji joining the initiative.
An American initiative to bring together its allies in the Indo-Pacific region to enhance economic cooperation is bound to lead to comparisons with one of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s pet projects, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which was spiked by Donald Trump immediately after he took over the reins in Washington.
America’s withdrawal from the region also set the stage for China to strengthen its position in the region, for which it was enabled by the economic integration agreement of East Asia, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Although IPEF has not been formally projected as a bulwark against the Chinese hegemony, there are indications that the new coalition could focus on developing supply chains bypassing the world’s second-largest economy. But, more importantly, the IPEF reignites the twin ambitions of the U.S. to provide economic leadership and to challenge China’s hegemony in the region.
— source madhyam.org.in | Biswajit Dhar | Jun 12, 2022