By Mercy A. Kuo and Angelica O. Tang
Insight from Erica Downs
The Rebalance authors Mercy Kuo and Angie Tang regularly engage subject-matter experts, policy practitioners and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into the U.S. rebalance to Asia. This conversation with Dr. Erica Downs – Senior Analyst at Eurasia Group and former fellow in the John. L Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution – is the 22nd in “The Rebalance Insight Series.”
OBOR and TPP seem to be two parallel initiatives to advance Chinese and American economic and foreign policy initiatives in the Asia-Pacific. What are the implications for the U.S. rebalance to Asia?
OBOR and TPP are two very different approaches to deepening economic integration in Asia and are not necessarily at odds with each other. OBOR aims to forge greater economic connectivity through the construction of physical infrastructure. In contrast, TPP seeks to do so through the creation of new rules for global trade, covering tariff liberalization as well as non-tariff barriers such as labor and environmental standards. Meanwhile, the geographical focus of OBOR is the Eurasian landmass while that of TPP is countries on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. States at the intersection of OBOR and TPP need not choose one over the other – and can benefit from doing both. This is true for China and the U.S., too. China can negotiate to join TPP when it meets the membership criteria, and the Obama Administration has stated that TPP is open to China. Xi Jinping has said that the U.S. is welcome to participate in OBOR.
Read the full story at The Diplomat