China News Service, Beijing, June 14th, report title:
(International Observation) Cornwall G7 Summit with a lacklustre return to the sky
Author Bo Wenwen
"International summits come and go, leaving only a group photo taken and a joint statement that no one reads." The Financial Times said before the meeting. Unlike the above scenario, the G7 summit seems to be "Western." Last chance to show leadership."
On the 13th local time, the G7 summit closed in Cornwall, England and announced a joint statement.
In the three-day agenda, has the West seized this so-called "last chance"?
Decline is "the general trend"
With many facts in front of us, the glorious moment of the G7 is a thing of the past.
In the 1970s, the GDP of the Group of Seven countries accounted for about 80% of the world's GDP. Today this ratio has dropped to about 40%.
Professor Steve Siefres of City College, University of London pointed out that in the past, the G7 summit played an important role in reshaping the world economy and promoting globalization. However, with the decline in economic power, its role has changed from the “initial”. "Focus on global economic issues" turned to "broader geopolitical issues."
Former U.S. President Trump once mocked the group as being “very outdated,” but now that the Biden administration returns to international affairs, it seems to provide a new reason for the existence of the G7.
"The G7's leadership has declined and its influence is not as good as before. This is the general trend." Liu Weidong, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told a reporter from China News Agency that the "flattening" brought about by economic globalization has inevitably changed very few The state monopolizes wealth and technology.
In addition, the historical background at the beginning of G7 is no longer there.
Liu Weidong also pointed out that the new crown epidemic has particularly highlighted that the Group of Seven countries is "going down." Whether it is in response to the epidemic or economic recovery after the epidemic, developed countries have failed to show stronger handling capabilities than developing countries.
"Promise more than action"
The epidemic, climate and trade are the "ambitious" core topics of the summit.
Vaccinating the world with the new crown vaccine, setting the world's lowest corporate tax rate, and accelerating action to combat climate change are all "strong commitments" issued by the Group of Seven in the joint statement.
But observers pointed out that the key issue is that after these "exciting slogans" are put forward, it is still unknown whether the Group of Seven can truly and practically implement them.
The joint statement stated that the G7 pledged to provide 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to low-income countries this year and next.
Even if it can be fulfilled, this promise is nothing but a drop in the bucket for the current global anti-epidemic situation.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 70% of the world’s population can be vaccinated to truly end the epidemic, which requires 11 billion doses of vaccine.
During the summit, there were endless protests.
Slogans such as "stop empty promises", "boycott the G7", and "promise more than act" are the protesters' criticisms of the G7's failure of responsibility in areas such as climate change, environmental protection, vaccine distribution, and social justice.
"Financial Times" pointed out that in the context of the reality that the G7 can no longer represent the global economy, the epidemic, climate, and trade issues "eventually require China's cooperation."
"These are global problems and cannot be solved without the participation of the world's most populous country and the second largest economy."
"China is the subtext of everything"
"China is the subtext of everything."
The United States' attempt to unite the G7 against China's influence has long been the "heart of Sima Zhao."
In order to counteract China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative, the Group of Seven nations announced on the 12th local time that it would launch a global infrastructure initiative called “Build Back Better World (B3W)” to meet the needs of low- and middle-income countries. The country's infrastructure needs of more than 40 trillion US dollars.
The White House also issued a statement on the same day that emphasized that the B3W initiative is an infrastructure partnership "led by major democracies, guided by common values, high standards, and transparency."
However, the "New York Times" pointed out that the White House has not made any financial commitments, and that the United States and its allies still have sharp differences on how to deal with China.
Obviously, the B3W initiative is a product of open competition with China under the leadership of the United States.
"But this kind of competition itself is more than enough," Liu Weidong believes that the United States may not be willing to invest too much in this, but "calls out a slogan, and hopes that all Western countries will come up with a part of the funds."
At the same time, the differences and disagreements within the G7 will also make it "not easy" to really advance the initiative.
"Like the original'Indo-Pacific strategy', the slogans were shouted very loudly, but it was difficult to do it, and the more you do it, the more difficult it becomes." (End)