"Unity" under the G7 "faces and hearts"

　　Xinhua News Agency, Falmouth, United Kingdom, June 13th

(International Observation) The G7 "faces and hearts are not in harmony" under the appearance of "unity"

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Dilei Jin Jing Yang Hairuo

　　The three-day G7 summit closed on the 13th in Cornwall, England.

Participants at the conference made commitments in terms of donating new crown vaccines, tackling climate change, and promoting economic recovery.

However, many of the "results" of the conference have been questioned and criticized by many parties.

　　Analysts pointed out that developed countries have not fulfilled their due responsibilities in responding to the most urgent global challenges such as the epidemic. Instead, they have used the summit to calculate their respective interests, exposing the internal differences and contradictions of the "small circle" of this rich country.

Promises challenged

　　In the communiqué, the G7 pledged to provide 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the world by the end of next year to promote the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible. At the same time, it will cooperate to strengthen the global health emergency system and work to shorten the scientific research and development cycle of new vaccines to 100 day.

　　International dignitaries, charity organizations, rescue organizations, etc. questioned this promise, believing that the G7 had spent a lot of time to hold an offline summit during the severe epidemic, and the results of a few days of discussions were not enough to solve the problem.

UN Secretary-General Guterres pointed out that although this is a welcome and correct decision, the efforts made by Western countries in the global fight against the epidemic are far from enough.

Former British Prime Minister Brown said that the G7 vaccine promises were late and not strong enough, and were not a real solution. “They failed to pass the first stage (anti-epidemic) test.”

　　On the issue of climate change, the G7 has also made ambitious commitments, including achieving “net zero emissions” of greenhouse gases by 2050 and providing developing countries with large amounts of funds for climate protection each year.

However, some environmental organizations have pointed out that rich Western countries bear more historical responsibility for climate change issues. Even if the G7 countries make the above commitments, they are still far from enough.

Whether they can fulfill these promises is even more questionable, because these goals mean that the Group of Seven countries must phase out coal-fired power and oil-fueled vehicles early, and stop investing in foreign fossil energy mining. This is related to the vital interests of the rich countries. Every step forward It's not easy.

Different minds

　　This summit is the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the Group of Seven in the past two years.

Public opinion pointed out that on the desktop, all parties hope to repair the cracks and try their best to show unity, but under the desktop, they have their own thoughts and goals.

　　For the United States, the key word of this summit is "find help."

Before the summit, US President Biden wrote in the "Washington Post" that his European trip focused on "uniting European democracies" and strengthening the strategic competition between China and Russia.

Analysts pointed out that Biden, who came to power in January this year, hopes to use this summit to announce the return of the United States as the "leader" of Western countries and turn the G7 into a helper in strategic competition and confrontation with China and Russia.

　　For the host, Britain, the key word of this summit is "showing strength."

The British think tank Overseas Development Research Institute issued a report earlier this month stating that the British government has hardly had the opportunity and occasion to demonstrate its global leadership since it fell into the quagmire of "Brexit".

British Prime Minister Johnson hopes to use the opportunity of hosting the G7 summit and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this year to increase the influence of the "globalized Britain" after Brexit.

　　For participating EU countries, the key word of this summit is "pressing Britain."

The United Kingdom and the European Union have been in disagreement over whether to set up border checkpoints in Northern Ireland after Brexit.

Biden, who opposes Britain's "Brexit", has repeatedly expressed concern about the future of Northern Ireland. He has warned that if Britain's "Brexit" endangers the peace process on the island of Ireland, the United States will not reach a trade agreement with the United Kingdom.

Therefore, EU officials hope to lobby Biden to pressure Johnson when attending the summit to promote the resolution of the Northern Ireland issue.

"Unity" is the appearance

　　Since the beginning of this year, the G7 has continuously released information on China and Russia, and the participants spent a lot of time discussing issues related to China and Russia. However, analysts pointed out that European countries still have concerns about the United States, and some countries are unwilling to follow the United States to engage in great power competition. .

　　David Gordon, senior geoeconomic and strategic adviser at the Institute for International Strategic Studies in the United Kingdom, pointed out that some European countries are worried that Biden’s coming to power is only a “temporary respite” for them. Former President Trump or other “Trumpism” in the Republican Party There is still a chance of a comeback in 2024.

They also worry that the continuity of Biden's policies towards the Trump administration may exceed their original expectations, and believe that the "middle-class diplomacy" proposed by the Biden administration is actually a copy of the Trump administration's "America First".

　　The British "Financial Times" recently reported that Bi's foreign policy attempts after he took office are obvious, but Europe still listens to him.

"Biden will have to face an embarrassing reality: the EU's economic and strategic priorities are different from those of the United States, and there is always a risk of publicizing these differences."

　　Martin Jacques, a well-known British scholar and senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, also pointed out in an interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that the United States is trying to "group" with Western allies to contain China's rise, but in fact, the different attitudes toward China are the most typical of the G7. One of the differences.

Some European countries are unwilling to follow the United States and blame China for all the problems, "they are not interested in containing China."

　　French President Macron stated after the summit that the G7 is not a "club" that is hostile to China. Western countries should cooperate with China on global issues.

　　In addition, Europe and the United States have different opinions in many areas such as defense security, the Afghanistan issue, natural gas pipelines, climate change, and the supervision of technology giants.

"If you clarify these issues, it will be easy to see through. The differences within the Group of Seven are very sharp," Jacques said. "Unity is just appearance."

　　Experts from many countries have pointed out that, as a product of the old era, the "small circles" of the G7 are no longer appropriate.

Only by abandoning the Cold War mentality and seeking broader global cooperation can we resolve major global issues such as ending the new crown epidemic, tackling climate change, and promoting economic recovery.

(Reporter: Liu Pinran)