Indonesia has long been reluctant to join the club, once called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), as the country has been focusing on the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Billed as the world’s largest free trade bloc, the RCEP is expected to come into force Jan. 1, 2022.

From the perspective of many in Indonesia, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is not just an economic issue; it is part of a concerted effort to contain China. 

The other pieces of the puzzle include the recently announced AUKUS, a trilateral military pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the US, and the Quad, a loose alliance involving the US, Japan, Australia and India.

These Indo-Pacific cooperation schemes offered by Western countries also aim to neutralize a rising China.

It seems Japan and Australia have been taken aback by President Xi’s surprising decision last month. Things became even more complicated after Taiwan followed China’s move one week later. Either rejecting or accepting the requests of China and Taiwan would result in diplomatic conundrums.

Reuters reported on Sept. 17 that Japan would have to determine if China met the "extremely high standards" of the CPTPP. Australia has also claimed that it would be very difficult for China to fulfill CPTPP’s terms and conditions, despite the fact that China is currently the world’s second-most powerful economy – soon to be the most powerful – and that China has practically replaced the US as the “champion of free trade”.