China Moves to Fill World Leadership Void as Trump Era Dawns
- Obama warns that failure of TPP would undermine U.S. role
- APEC still considering TPP as China pushes alternative pact
China Champions Free Trade at APEC Summit
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China has pounced after Donald Trump’s election win to claim the mantle of the world’s champion for free trade and against climate change, prompting a melancholy warning from President Barack Obama that the U.S. risks getting left behind in Asia.
Obama met in Peru on Sunday with leaders of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that Trump vowed to kill along with the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. Obama said that TPP members told him they want to move forward with the pact, “preferably” with the U.S.