Beijing says U.S.-backed Asia plan seeks to ‘decouple’ countries from China

BEIJING – China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday a U.S.-backed economic plan for Asia seeks to decouple countries from the Chinese economy, but many countries are worried about the “huge cost” of doing so.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) serves U.S. interests and seeks to exclude other countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden launched this plan on Monday. Initial founding countries include Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, but not China.

(Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard, writing Yew Lun Tian, editing by Andrew Heavens)