China and Russia: friendship is friendship, but free trade is apart
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an ambitious project promoted by Beijing, is expected to be signed in Hanoi on Sunday. Experts are surprised that Russia will not be among the signatories.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
It is noted that as a result, the world's largest free trade zone will be created, covering approximately three billion consumers, and the total GDP will be about a third of the world's.
The upcoming signing of the document was commented on by the head of the Southeast Asia department at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dmitry Mosyakov.
He points out that the United States promoted the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), and China promoted the RCEP.
“This association appeared almost simultaneously with the TPP. Negotiations took a long, long time. If the agreement is signed, it will be an important factor for integration in East Asia. It will also mean the victory of the Chinese project,” says the expert.
He explains the absence of Russia in this project by “the weaknesses and shortcomings of our foreign policy in this direction.”
“It’s a mystery to me why we find ourselves on the periphery of this process. Russia signed an agreement on a free trade zone with Vietnam, and this was also discussed with Singapore. But things didn't go any further. It would seem that the Chinese, our friends, are the ringleaders of this action. RCEP is a Chinese enterprise. But Russia is not there,” Mosyakov is perplexed.
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