Was the TPP the Best Option at Bringing China in Line?

In its attempts to pressure and influence the income Trump administration, Chinese press continues to issue warnings against an isolationist trade agenda.

“‘Turning his trade-bashing campaign talks into actual policies could bash any hope that the Asia-Pacific will finally have its much-wanted free trade deal,’ said a commentary in the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday…’Worse, it could drag his country and the wider world into deeper economic distress,’ added the agency, which is a barometer of government thinking.”

By its own admission, China recognized that the TPP was the Obama’s administration attempt to curtail a growing Chinese power.

“Xinhua also said that the exclusion of China from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement was not about boosting trade and instead was U.S. President Barack Obama’s strategy to make sure Washington ‘rules supreme in the region.'”

But, what many American forget is that as the agreement grew in influence and success, it could have enticed China into complying with all the economic regulations and intellectual property protections that the west has been urging China to implement. It could have done to a large degree what The Donald has promised to do through a series of ill advised trade-wars with the world.