US setting stage for Asia to pivot to China

Tokyo

"US DECIDES to boycott major Asia-Pacific economic initiative." Haven't we seen that somewhere before (apart from in this week's headlines on President Donald Trump pulling the US out of the TPP)? Isn't it a repeat of what happened when Washington rejected joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)?

The similarities are certainly there in that by opting out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, just as it boycotted the AIIB without even negotiating entry, the US is effectively walking away from Asia and leaving it to China and (maybe) Japan to create a new economic order. A key difference this time is that Tokyo is begging and pleading with Washington to stay onboard the TPP - which Japan wants as a means to avert Chinese economic dominance in the region - whereas Tokyo simply hoped that the AIIB would fail if it and the US both stayed out of it.