The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an unfortunate victim of US political divisiveness and antiglobalization sentiment. The trade program would arguably have delivered huge benefits to all parties, including China indirectly.

The media narrative in both the Chinese and Western press is that the demise of the TPP would be good for China, and that the retrenchment of the US and its allies in terms of globalization is somehow also good for China, and that China will be the “winner” in the event of an unraveling of America’s next-generation free-trade vision in the Pacific. This position fundamentally misinterprets China’s actual needs and interests, and conflates the notion of what’s best for Chinese hawks and Communist Party ideologues with what’s best for China itself.