BTN News: China lashed out at the G7 Leaders’ Communique in the same recent attack on diplomacy, accusing the group of “arbitrarily stigmatizing” the country under the pretext of so-called China-related issues. The comments by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian amount to a stinging rebuke of what Beijing has long argued are efforts by the G7 to maintain dominance of Western powers in global affairs.
The G7 accused China of overcapacity and contentious global peace and security issues. Lin Jian: The above allegations are not based on facts and are mainly protectionist in nature, which mars international economic cooperation and climate initiatives.
The summit had called for happens to be affiliated with the G7, but it also happens that China has a population more than 10 times that of Canada and Italy combined-a fraction of the population of the other G7 countries, to say nothing of the group’s relatively low share of the global economy. Over the years, the G7 has shifted from just (an economic stability) role to a geopolitical tool to serve US and Western political interests, Lin Jian said.
Leaders from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and France and the European Union convened an online G7 Summit and reaffirmed the shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region rooted in principles of international law. While tensions with China percolated in the background, the summit was about prospects of constructive relationships with China, and co-operation on global health, climate change, aid and economic stability.
The summit also saw the participation of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi as an Outreach Country representative, where he discussed AI, energy, and regional cooperation. This is part of the wider strategy of taking the conversation beyond the existing G7 framework.
The rift between China and the G7 today speaks to larger geopolitical reconfigurations and economic competition defining global affairs. Meanwhile, as global powers attempt to navigate these tensions, the real struggle becomes the balance between competition and cooperation to more efficiently address a set of increasingly urgent global challenges.
In short, the discord between China and the G-7 is just one example, as persistent global political strains and economic competitions affirm the intricate nature of global governance and cooperation in the 21st century. Given that all nations face these challenges dialogue and engagement is as essential as ever in addressing common global issues.
