The island country of Fiji is joining the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), according to a Thursday White House statement. Situated in the Pacific, a region that’s increasingly contentious in step with expanding Chinese influence, Fiji’s joining IPEF gives the Biden administration a diplomatic victory over Beijing. “IPEF now reflects the full regional…

News Analysis The outcome of the U.S.-ASEAN summit that ended on May 13 was a pledge to establish an ASEAN-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in November of this year. Experts believe Taiwan, a non-ASEAN member, would become a beneficiary in the U.S. efforts to counter China in the Pacific. From May 12 to 13, U.S. President…

President Biden announcing a potential new economic strategy for allies in and around Asia. We talk to an economist for analysis. Starbucks leaving Russia after 15 years. It’s the latest retailer to exit over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. New business ideas could come from many places, even a bad-tasting beer. We hear from one man who set…

President Joe Biden in Tokyo is launching a new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) with 12 other countries in the region, who together are signing up as the first members of the economic partnership focusing on the Asia-Pacific. “This framework is a commitment to working with our close friends and partners in the region on challenges…