Japan slams Beijing’s ‘coercion’

Japan’s top diplomat in Australia says China’s record should disqualify it from being admitted to one of the world’s largest free-trade deals.

Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Japan’s top diplomat in Australia has suggested China’s record of “economic coercion” should disqualify it from being admitted to one of the world’s largest free-trade agreements, warning of the “risk of sabotage from within”.

Writing in The Australian, Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami says the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agree­ment for Trans-­Pacific Partnership should not lower its high standards by admitting countries known for breaking World Trade Organisation rules.

A day after China demanded Australia urgently discuss its bid to join the 11-nation CPTPP, Mr Yamagami highlights Beijing’s ­record of punitive trade bans against both Australia and Japan.

He says admitting to the CPTPP nations that don’t meet its standards will lead to a “race to the bottom”, compromising the international rules-based order.

“There can be no clearer nor more blatant opposition to the foundational principles of the WTO than the weaponisation of economic clout,” he says.

“The irony is economic coercion has become a signature modus operandi of a certain major WTO member.

“Economic coercion, along with disruptions to global logistics caused by Covid, has laid bare the potential vulnerabilities of global supply chains.”

In order to gain entry to the CPTPP, China must secure the ­assent of every member of the free-trade agreement, including Aus­tralia and Japan.

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, told The Australian on Wednesday that Beijing ­wanted to urgently commence negoti­ations with Australia on its CPTPP candidacy, but had so-far been rebuffed.

CPTPP member states are currently assessing the candidacy of Britain, which applied for membership before China.

China’s demand for talks on its CPTPP application comes despite its trade bans against more than $20bn-a-year’s worth of Australian exports, including barley, wine and lobster.

Mr Yamagami points also to China’s suspension of rare earth exports to Japan in 2010 after the arrest by Japan’s navy of a Chinese fishing boat near disputed East China Sea islands.

He says he is “perplexed” at suggestions a country’s history of WTO compliance would not be relevant to its efforts to gain entry into the CPTPP. “Even for an advanced economy like the UK with a respectable track-record, close scrutiny has been going on since June 2021; such is the level of requirements to ensure the standard is kept high,” Mr Yama­gami writes.

“The mission of the CPTPP is to serve as a beacon for the region and embody the highest standards in trade and investment rules. Is the applicant economy genuinely committed to the pursuit of this mission? Is there any risk of sabotage from within? These are the questions we should ask.”

China slapped bans on a range of Australian imports from May 2020, including barley, beef, lobster, wine and timber. Former prime minister Scott Morrison said prior to the last election that China would have ­little chance of gaining entry to the CPTPP ­following its campaign of trade ­coercion against Australia.

Trade Minister Don Farrell has been more circumspect, referring to the agreement’s high standards.

There have been five appli­cations to join the CPTPP – from the United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

South Korea, The Philippines, Thailand and Uruguay have also expressed an interest in joining.