From Washington to Beijing, signs of ambivalence abound in the discourse about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

In private at least, we have heard plenty about the TPP being part of a larger plot by the United States to contain China.

With US President Barack Obama's vow that his country will not allow countries such as China to write the rules of international trade lingering in the background, it is only natural for people to consider the US-led TPP as a counter to what China is up to: such as the open and inclusive China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-led free trade area, of which China is only one of more than a dozen potential members.