With TPP, US was at the center of a 13-country pact excluding China. Now, 11 of them made a pact excluding US, and many are getting closer to China. Trump abandoned a great geopolitical move containing China's rise, and united other countries in an anti-US containment strategy.https://twitter.com/AP/status/929142126759350272 …
-
Show this thread
-
In January, I wrote that quitting the TPP ceded Asia-Pacific to China. And I'm not at all happy to see more evidence of that coming true. 2/xhttps://arcdigital.media/by-quitting-the-trans-pacific-partnership-trump-cedes-asia-pacific-to-china-f63514a783ac …
2 replies 45 retweets 69 likesShow this thread -
Did Trump really think he could screw over a bunch of countries, tossing aside 7 years of painstaking negotiations, and they'd come crawling back? They're countries, not contractors or business partners. You can't scare them with lawsuits, or trick them with bankruptcies. 3/x
5 replies 79 retweets 125 likesShow this thread -
POTUS' Asia trip hasn't been nearly as gaffe-prone as his swing through Europe. But it's been more embarrassing. Trying, and failing, to get bilateral trade deals to replace the multilateral deal he walked away from. And a spectacle of ass kissing in China. 4/x
4 replies 43 retweets 92 likesShow this thread -
Diplomacy is not purely transactional. It's about building relationships--cultivating long-term partners, not "winning" short-term deals. To address the incredibly difficult problem of North Korea, Trump needs to unite many countries behind him. But who wants to follow? 5/x
2 replies 29 retweets 61 likesShow this thread -
To stand up to Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, the US needs to work with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei. Those countries all have maritime claims that overlap China's, and they're also three of the countries Trump abandoned by quitting the TPP. 6/x
1 reply 29 retweets 64 likesShow this thread -
Thanks to Trump, it's abundantly clear to everyone in the region that the future belongs to China. It was inevitable that American hegemony would decline. But I never thought the US would just give it away. (END)
8 replies 71 retweets 119 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @NGrossman81
I suspect he, like many Americans, vastly underestimated the replacability of American trade.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
To the extent there's strategic thought behind the decision, that's a possibility. The biggest logic I can see is the assumption that everyone wants access to the US market, without realizing that bailing on a long-negotiated deal would make countries unwilling to make a new one.
-
-
Replying to @NGrossman81
My suspicion is that his view of Asia as riding on America's coattails made him think American participation in trade was something they couldn't survive without.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @estarianne @NGrossman81
The Trump contingent doesn't really understand how much trade in the world has nothing to do with us.
0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.