Among those who oppose the TPP in Malaysia, the US is on their crosshair, always. The opposition is so US-centric that I\u00a0wonder whether they are anti-TPP, or anti-US. Malaysia has signed several other FTAs in the past years and negotiating more but you do not hear any\u00a0complaint\u00a0against\u00a0those. Among the pro-TPP too, whether it is about trade or involving some kind of geopolitical\u00a0babble,\u00a0more often than not, it is about the US and sometimes about Malaysia too.<\/p>\n
Yet, Malaysia is negotiating the TPP with 10 other countries and there is hardly any question asked about what these countries want out of Malaysia and what Malaysia would get out in return. Judging from various reports, it is quite clear that what Japan wants is very different form what the US wants, never mind the exemptions requested by\u00a0all countries\u00a0to accommodate their\u00a0domestic political reality. But there are not many questions asked on this front.<\/p>\n
Granted, Malaysia has active FTAs with six\u00a0other TPP countries \u2014 Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam\u00a0\u2014 through the Asean trade system. There is even one between Malaysia and Chile. The TPP could very well replicate those existing FTAs. But the question I would love seeing asked and answered is how TPP would change the existing ties. Is there any new special request between these countries?<\/p>\n
And we know, the TPP has more depth than any of the previous FTAs Malaysia has signed.<\/p>\n
What about others that we do not have a treaty with, like, besides the US, Canada, Mexico and Peru? We would have to discuss with them from the ground up.\u00a0No, there is no question asked here too.<\/p>\n
During the Malaysia-Singapore Retreat earlier this\u00a0week, Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong mentioned the TPP. In this video, he mentioned it at 1:11:<\/p>\n