Asia-Pacific: Groundbreaking Trans-Pacific Partnership Talks Stall

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By Chuck Chiang, Vancouver Sun Apr 14, 2015

In the soft-power battle for the direction of and influence over Asia-Pacific’s future, the ammunition has always been money. But while cold-hard cash — whether in the form of investment, trade or aid — has always played a central role when economy and geopolitics intertwine, at no time is it more salient than what we have seen in recent months.

I remember vividly last October, while meeting in a hotel lobby in Tokyo, the words of professor Yorizumi Watanabe.

Watanabe, a famed international trade economist at Keio University and a former negotiator for the country’s free-trade deal with Mexico, was optimistic about the final stages of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. At the time, talks for the 12-member trade zone — which is perceived by some as a U.S./Japan-led initiative to counter growing Chinese economic influence — looked set to wrap due to U.S. President Barack Obama’s non-binding deadline to finish discussions by the end of the year.

“Wouldn’t it send a strong message if they can announce the TPP at APEC?” Watanabe mused. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group met in Beijing last November.

Flash forward five months, and a strong statement has indeed been made — but not by the TPP. While the free-trade talks remain stalled in their final stages (the latest round of TPP discussions in Hawaii in March yielded nary an announcement), something else that took shape last October has leaped from the back pages.

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