Originally called the Trans-Pacific Partnership until the USA withdrew in 2017, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is an ambitious and wide-ranging free trade agreement between eleven Pacific countries. Far from faltering after US withdrawal, several more countries have since applied to join, including China, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Some observers see in this a contest between China and the USA for wider influence through an attempt to control or re-write the rules of international trade; at a minimum accession by any of the three would have a major impact on the CPTPP as originally envisaged.
This edited volume considers the three applications, the motivations for the three to join, and the likely responses of existing members. The implications for cross-Strait tension between China and Taiwan are fully considered, as is the ability or willingness of the USA to influence the outcome of the applications.
"Edited by two experts in international relations and trade politics, this volume provides the most up-to-date analysis of the CPTPP from economic, political and legal perspectives. It unveils the key challenges confronting the potential accession of the United Kingdom, China and Taiwan to the agreement. Broader issues including strategies of ASEAN, the United States and the European Union are also carefully analyzed. The book will be an indispensable reference for diplomats and scholars in international economic policy."
- Pasha L. Hsieh, Jean Monnet Chair Professor, Singapore Management University, Singapore
"This book offers a good and comprehensive stocktaking exercise of all major issues involved. It provides a wide range of discussions from cross-disciplined scholars, underpinning a cross-country comparison of CPTPP strategies and approaches and is a well structured volume on regional integration progress."
- Huai-Shing Yen, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Taiwan
The CPTPP is far from faltering after US withdrawal, several more countries have since applied to join, including China, Taiwan and the United Kingdom, in what some observers see as a contest between China and the USA to control or re-write the rules of international trade.
This volume considers the three applications, the likely responses of existing members, the implications for cross-Strait tension between China and Taiwan, and the ability of the USA to influence the outcome.
Chun-Yi Lee is Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations, and director of the Taiwan Research Hub at the University of Nottingham. Her book Taiwanese Business or Chinese Security Asset was published in 2011, her current work: Sticky decoupling? Geopolitics and semiconductor supply chain, is in preparation.
Michael Reilly is a Senior Fellow in the Taiwan Research Hub at the University of Nottingham and an Advisory Board member of the Global Taiwan Institute. His latest book, The Great Free Trade Myth: British Foreign Policy and East Asia Since 1980, was published in 2020.
