Japan positive about U.S.-led Indo-Pacific economic scheme: gov’t

Japan is positive about joining a U.S.-led Indo-Pacific economic initiative to create a “desirable” economic order in the region, the top government spokesman said Wednesday.

Japan’s potential participation in the Info-Pacific Economic Framework, proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden in an apparent push back against an assertive China, will not change Tokyo’s stance of seeking Washington’s return to a Pacific free trade pact, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

“We welcome the IPEF as an embodiment of active commitment by the United States to the Indo-Pacific region and thus we are positively considering our participation,” Matsuno said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno holds a press conference in Tokyo on May 18, 2022. (Kyodo)

 

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Tuesday the launch of the framework will be announced during Biden’s visit to Japan from Sunday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to announce Japan’s decision to participate in the initiative when he meets Biden next week, government sources have said.

Details of the IPEF remain vague, though it will likely focus on areas such as trade, resilient supply chains and investment in decarbonization.

As longtime allies, Japan and the United States have been advocating a free and open Indo-Pacific amid growing concerns about the rise of China backed by its economic and military power.

“From our strategic standpoint of realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, we will continue to call for the United States to return the TPP at summit and other levels,” Matsuno said, in reference to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-member regional trade agreement formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“We will also promote cooperation via the IPEF and work with the United States in building a desirable economic order in the region,” he said.

The United States pulled out of the TPP in 2017 under then President Donald Trump who shied away from multilateral arrangements.

The CPTPP entered into force in 2018, and Britain, China and Taiwan are now seeking to join it.