Correspondent in Asia
Do business, not war.
China counter-attacked on the trade front to the new military pact sealed by Joe Biden with Australia and the United Kingdom (Aukus), aimed at containing the ambitions of the giant in the Pacific, which torpedoed the contract of French submarines with Canberra.
Beijing on Thursday filed its official request to join the Trans-Pacific Agreement (CPTPP), a vast regional free trade area, originally wanted by Barack Obama to counter Beijing, and which Donald Trump had deserted.
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In China, the private sector fears a "hunt for the rich"
Wang Wentao, Chinese Minister of Commerce, sent a letter of candidacy, embodying a prospect raised by President Xi Jinping at the Apec summit last November.
Communist China is thus draping itself at the right time as a champion of free trade and economic cooperation in the face of an America denounced as bellicose, accused of sowing trouble in Asia-Pacific.
"This movement cements the country's leadership
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