China sees opportunity as Trump backs away from Asian trade deal

China is stepping up as globalisation's staunchest advocate after Donald Trump vowed he would abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) 12-nation regional trade deal on his first day in office.

Beijing is clearly pleased at the prospect of Washington taking a backseat in Asia, as this dovetails with its own ambitions to become a regional power, and eventually a force to be reckoned with globally.

"Can China overtake US to lead the world?" ran an editorial in the state-owned Global Times newspaper, published before Mr Trump said in a video that he would ditch the TPP on his first day in office.

While noting that Mr Trump seemed determined to withdraw into isolationism, the commentary suggested China was not quite ready yet to take over the role of world leader. It stressed that the future was based on Sino-US cooperation and said China’s further rise was inevitable.

Beijing has eyed the TPP with hostility for years, as it was seen as a way for the Obama administration to boost America’s “Asia Pivot” of influence in the region.

Rival trade deals

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Lima, Peru, at the weekend, President Xi Jinping was a vocal crusader for free trade. "Openness is the lifeline of the regional economy," Mr Xi said, holding out the prospect within the next five years of 700 million outbound visits by Chinese tourists, as well as expenditure by China of trillions of dollars in imports and billions in overseas investment.

To bring this about, China is promoting its own rival trade deals, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes 14 Asian nations, Australia and New Zealand but, crucially, leaves out the United States.

Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia, all traditional US allies, are veering towards the RCEP if the TPP is not ratified. A major shift in the balance of power is in the offing.

The idea of communist China promoting free trade so eagerly is not without irony, but joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001 has been a big boost to China's economy.

China, the world’s second biggest polluter after the US, is also keen for the US to honour its commitments on climate change and not withdraw from the Paris climate deal.

At UN climate talks in Marrakech, China's vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin said climate change was not a Chinese hoax, as Mr Trump claimed, pointing out that talks were initiated by his Republican predecessors Ronald Reagan and George Bush senior.

China still cannot match the US in terms of strength, the Global Times said, and the world was perhaps not psychologically ready for such a scenario, but events were changing fast.

“It’s beyond imagination to think that China could replace the US to lead the world . . . but as China is rapidly developing, bringing about changes to the global power structure, its participation in global governance will be a natural and gradual process, which Beijing cannot rush or escape,” it said.