Asia-Pacific No ‘Chessboard for Geopolitical Contest,’ Say Chinese

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, meeting in Washington Thursday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, emphasized the Biden administration’s plans “to develop an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that delivers concrete, economically meaningful benefits to the region,” said a readout from her office. China believes any “regional cooperation framework” in the Asia-Pacific “should meet the trend of the times for peace and development,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Thursday when asked about US IPEF ambitions. Asia-Pacific is a “promising” region for cooperation and development, “not a chessboard for geopolitical contest,” he said.