ASEAN is the crossroads of the Pacific, and one of the world’s most strategically valuable trade routes. Their high volume of trade with both the U.S. and China put them at the intersection of something else - the escalating struggle between the two superpowers for global supremacy.

In applying for membership, China has made a clear choice to adhere to high standards. Its market is huge, so others should evaluate carefully. If any member state, or the United States, blocks the way forward, an important opportunity for Asia-Pacific prosperity will be lost.

A just cause enjoys abundant support while an unjust one does not. At a time when most countries in the Asia-Pacific region are striving to maintain peace and stability, the U.S. has deliberately waded in to create antagonism and the potential for cutthroat competition.

In pivoting to the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. could undermine its own global leadership by turning away from Europe and the Middle East, where trust in the U.S. security blanket has eroded. Countries in those places are edging increasingly toward self-reliance.

China’s somewhat surprising petition to join the CPTPP presents serious challenges to the U.S.’s position in the region, and perhaps just as importantly, creates economic opportunity for China.

The creation of AUKUS is being criticized by many as an instigation on the part of the U.S. and the U.K., with third parties in Asia as well as Europe deeply troubled by its announcement.

It is natural for Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, to provide leadership in global economic governance. But preventing a repeat of its failure with the Kyoto Protocol requires it to abandon its U.S.-centrism and its fealty to certain myths of the CPTPP.

China’s joining the free trade agreement would provide a powerful economic boost to the Asia-Pacific region and the world. It should be cheered on, but Washington — obsessed with containing China — may yet block its bid.

The fallout of the AUKUS deal has the potential to alter the landscape of relationships in the Pacific region. By entering a nuclear arms deal with Australia, the U.S. and U.K. are applying pressure in the showdown between China and its Western counterparts.

2021 has shown how the EU will seek to maintain a competitive and cooperative relationship with China amidst tensions between the U.S. and China.