Duterte takes swipe at US on free trade

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday took a swipe at the Trump administration’s retreat from a major free trade deal, joining Asian nations at a forum this week in criticising rising protectionism.Until recently China and the United States were both pushing sweeping free trade deals that excluded each other.But shortly after taking office in January, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which he described as a “job killer”.The move delivered a hammer blow to the 11 other nations who spent seven years negotiating what was billed as the world’s largest trade deal.During a speech celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Manila, Duterte gave his backing to a planned trade pact backed by China known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.“Asean has a bigger stake than any part of the world in standing up against protectionism and securing the rules of the game in the international trade,” he told delegates.RCEP, he said, “will provide further impetus to our efforts”, adding he hoped negotiations on the Beijing-led deal “should conclude swiftly”.He then added a jab over TPP’s collapse. “(I’m) reminded that the Transpacific, it was a dream, is no longer there,” he said.Before Trump’s withdrawal, TPP would have covered 40% of the global economy.It went further than most existing free trade pacts, with labour laws, environmental protections and intellectual property rights touted by backers as a new gold standard for global trade.The deal, which excluded China, was also seen as a way to counter Beijing’s regional economic dominance.In response to TPP, Beijing has been pushing RCEP, a more modest deal that prescribes lower and more limited regulatory standards.The pact would group China with the 10 Asean members plus India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.Throughout the security forum of regional foreign ministers that ended yesterday, multiple countries voiced specific concerns about rising protectionism, including Japan, South Korea, China and the 10-member Asean bloc.“Anti-globalisation sentiments and protectionist threats, to just name a few, are gaining force in many parts of the world, fuelling global economic and political uncertainty,” South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha said during a meeting with her Japanese and Chinese counterparts on Sunday.China pushed for a maritime code of conduct with Southeast Asian countries that would not be legally binding, the Philippine foreign minister said yesterday.Alan Peter Cayetano said some countries wanted the South China Sea code to be legally binding, and China preferred only “binding”. He said all parties realised it was better to drop all mention of it from the framework and move forward.The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and China hailed the adoption on Sunday of a negotiating framework for the code of conduct as progress towards preventing disputes.Cayetano cited the framework as an example of how parties that were historically at odds were co-operating, but his comments indicate that China had initially set out to create a code that had no legal binds.“Everyone is more open to negotiations,” Cayetano told a news conference. “At first, words about being non-legally binding, China dropped, just said ‘OK, approve the framework and go to the COC’.”Critics say Beijing’s end game is to either negotiate what amounts to a gentleman’s agreement, or stall and buy time to expand its defence capability on its manmade islands.Asean has long wanted to sign China up to a set of laws to prevent disputes over energy reserves, fishing, and land reclamation, and avoid military conflicts in the South China Sea, where Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and China have competing claims.Asean and China say the framework is only a guide for how the code will be established, but critics say the failure to outline as an initial objective the need to make it legally binding and enforceable creates doubts about how effective the pact can be.Australia, Japan and the United States on Monday urged Asean and China to ensure the code is “legally binding, meaningful, effective, and consistent with international law”.China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said it was too soon to discuss components of the code, but whatever is agreed must be stuck to.“If China is saying now that we’re going for ‘binding’, will we stop talking to them?” Cayetano asked.“The problem with legally binding is...what are the penalties, what are the mechanisms for adjudication, what tribunal, what court and who will enforce?.“I think some countries are just being practical.”Australia yesterday announced a four-year aid package worth 20mn Australian dollars ($15.86mn) for the southern Philippine city of Marawi, where troops are battling Islamist militants for more than two months.Autralian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the assistance aims to ease civilian suffering and contribute to the recovery and long-term peace and stability in Marawi City, 800km south of Manila.“The siege has brought enormous distress to the population of Marawi,” she said in a statement.”Australia’s support will help meet the urgent needs of these displaced people including through child protection and counselling services.”The aid package would also “fund small-scale infrastructure projects for communities around Marawi including provision of clean drinking water and repair of local roads,” Bishop added.The conflict in Marawi City has left 730 people dead so far, including 122 government troops and 523 militants.The terrorists have also executed 45 civilians, while 40 displaced residents have died from illness since they fled their homes. The militants, who are allied with the Islamic State terrorist group, are believed to be holding 300 hostages in the fighting zone.