Thank you for that thorough summary. It's most helpful.
Two niggles:
1. "CPTPP membership might (though it’s a very questionable might) also encourage China towards better standards of trade behaviour by enmeshing it in more trade rules." Last time I checked, China's compliance with its international trade obligations was exemplary. Since the founding of the WTO in 1995, legal action has been taken against the US 147 times, the highest number for any member. Since China joined in 2001, it has seen just 42 cases, less than half of the 91 that the US faced in the same period. Of the seven cases in which the WTO has authorized reprisals by the winning party, six were due to the US refusing to comply with the ruling. Particularly concerning is the US government’s malicious blocking of WTO Appellate Body appointments because it has ruled against it in multiple lawsuits. The US has not only repudiated its debts from those cases, it has also ousted the judges and is attempting to shut down the court entirely..
2. "Canberra has opted (at least for now) for the cautious and morally ambiguous approach of not imposing targeted sanctions against Chinese officials and entities implicated in severe human rights abuses”. To my knowledge there are no Chinese officials and entities implicated in severe human rights abuses in China. Indeed, of the 30 Articles in the UN Declaration, China leads the US in 26 and draws 2.
Thank you for that thorough summary. It's most helpful.
Two niggles:
1. "CPTPP membership might (though it’s a very questionable might) also encourage China towards better standards of trade behaviour by enmeshing it in more trade rules." Last time I checked, China's compliance with its international trade obligations was exemplary. Since the founding of the WTO in 1995, legal action has been taken against the US 147 times, the highest number for any member. Since China joined in 2001, it has seen just 42 cases, less than half of the 91 that the US faced in the same period. Of the seven cases in which the WTO has authorized reprisals by the winning party, six were due to the US refusing to comply with the ruling. Particularly concerning is the US government’s malicious blocking of WTO Appellate Body appointments because it has ruled against it in multiple lawsuits. The US has not only repudiated its debts from those cases, it has also ousted the judges and is attempting to shut down the court entirely..
2. "Canberra has opted (at least for now) for the cautious and morally ambiguous approach of not imposing targeted sanctions against Chinese officials and entities implicated in severe human rights abuses”. To my knowledge there are no Chinese officials and entities implicated in severe human rights abuses in China. Indeed, of the 30 Articles in the UN Declaration, China leads the US in 26 and draws 2.