Australia, Japan, the United States and other nations on Saturday kicked off their first in-person round of negotiations aimed at setting economic rules and standards in the Indo-Pacific amid China's growing clout in the region. The six-day meeting in Australia follows a ministerial gathering involving 14 members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which represents 40 percent of global gross domestic product, according to the U.S. government. The negotiations will center on four pillars -- fair trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure and clean energy, and tax and anti-corruption. Th...
