Photo: ANP
The United States launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) initiative with thirteen countries, including India and Japan. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. The economic bloc must balance China in the region.
Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand are also part of the block. “I am confident that American companies will benefit from it,” Raimondo told reporters in Tokyo. “Especially as companies are increasingly looking for alternatives to China.” China has not been invited to participate in the initiative. The Americans see that its goal is to stimulate cooperation, stability, prosperity, development and peace in the region.
Taiwan is not part of the IPEF. State involvement in China is sensitive, because Beijing considers the island a breakaway province. China has long pressured countries to weaken or sever their ties with democratic Taiwan. The United States has been supplying the East Asian island nation with weapons for years.
US President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States is ready to use force to defend Taiwan against China. He calls that the promise that the state imposed on itself. China responded by saying that it is ready to defend its national interests regarding Taiwan.
Taiwan itself was happy to participate in the debate on the IPEF. According to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, the United States wants to deepen its economic partnership with the country, for example in the field of chips.
