Ex-Malaysia PM: US-led trade group intended to isolate China

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has criticized a new U.S.-led economic grouping, saying it is intended to isolate China and won’t benefit regional economic growth without Beijing. U.S. President Joe Biden launched the 13-nation Indo-Pacific Economic Framework earlier this week. He said it will help the United States work more closely with Asian countries in areas including supply chains, digital trade, clean energy and anticorruption. Mahathir said at an international conference in Tokyo that the U.S. wants to use such groupings to isolate China, but that “we have to live with China, which is now richer than most countries in the world.”