China News Service, Beijing, June 28 (Guan Na) The Group of Seven (G7) summit is drawing to a close.
At the venue, G7 leaders had heated discussions on the situation in Russia and Ukraine, and announced the launch of the "Global Infrastructure Partnership" initiative, which plans to raise US$600 billion to finance infrastructure construction in developing countries within five years.
Outside the venue, Europeans held demonstrations against the G7 for hindering global cooperation.
In fact, the abacus behind the new G7 initiative has long been seen through, and its sheep's clothing behind it is just to counter China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative.
The outside world believes that "China offers opportunities unmatched by the United States." This initiative will instead expose the old problem of Western allies' inability to unite.
"What they negotiate is not always good for the world as a whole"
When the G7 summit was held, it was boycotted by the European people.
Thousands of people held a rally in Germany to protest the G7 summit. They opposed the G7's "small groups" and hindered global cooperation. They demanded relevant developed countries to earnestly fulfill their responsibilities and actively address issues such as climate change and hunger.
From June 26 to 28 local time, the G7 summit was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, southern Germany.
Protesters said that the summit only considered and discussed issues from the perspective of G7 internal interests and related interest groups, ignoring the interests of ordinary people.
There are also voices saying, "7 heads of government from different countries negotiate the whole world. We have seen before that what they negotiate is not always good for the whole world."
In London, England, climate activists marched to call on G7 leaders to immediately cancel all debts in developing countries.
In his G7 summit debut in 2021, Biden shouted to his allies that "America is back", and now this sentence is also facing re-examination by citizens of allied countries.
A 59-year-old German citizen said more directly, "I think the United States is divided."
The Associated Press bluntly stated that when the United States participated in the meeting, the country was facing a series of acute issues such as political turmoil, frequent mass shootings, and great controversy over abortion rights, which made many G7 countries worried.
Bergman, a researcher at a U.S. think tank, said, "I think Europeans are somewhat afraid of the domestic situation in the United States." European allies have begun to worry about whether the United States is stable enough and hesitate to trust the security guarantees of the United States.
"China offers opportunities unmatched by the US"
It is worth noting that on the 26th local time, G7 leaders announced the launch of the "Global Infrastructure Partnership" initiative, which plans to raise 600 billion US dollars to finance infrastructure construction in developing countries within five years.
This is to "confront" or "substitute" China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative - its plot is directly seen through by the US and Western media.
Biden said the United States will raise $200 billion over five years through federal grants, private investment and other means to support low- and middle-income countries to help combat climate change, improve global health, gender equality and digital infrastructure.
He also declared, "This is not aid or charity. This is an investment that will pay off for everyone and will allow countries to see concrete benefits of working with democracies".
Several foreign media pointed out that this initiative is not new.
The G7 had launched a broadly similar program in 2021 called Rebuilding a Better World (B3W), also targeting China.
B3W's claim to improve $40 trillion in infrastructure in developing countries has been little known since its inception, with almost no substantial progress, which also disappointed developing countries.
On January 28, 2022, local time, a bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, USA, and the bridge was broken into several sections.
"Looking back at what we've seen, every U.S.-led response to China's infrastructure projects has underperformed," said NPR, citing former Liberian public works minister Moore. "Countries are in dire straits, and they need resources," Schifft said. "China offers opportunities that the U.S. can't match."
The American "Foreign Affairs" magazine is even less optimistic about the United States' infrastructure construction in developing countries.
The media said in a commentary that the United States is at a disadvantage in competition with China in terms of global infrastructure, and that the United States’ own infrastructure capabilities are “very bad”, let alone building infrastructure abroad.
Analysts believe that the United States is eager to contain China's expansion of international influence through the "Belt and Road" initiative.
The New York Times pointed out in its comments, "Although Biden has been working hard to unite allies and fight against China, this initiative is likely to expose the old problem that Western allies cannot unite."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian pointed out on June 27 that since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed nine years ago, it has always adhered to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, bringing tangible benefits to the people of the countries concerned.
Regarding the new initiatives put forward by the G7, China always welcomes all initiatives to promote the construction of global infrastructure, and there is no problem that various related initiatives can replace each other.
We oppose words and deeds that smear and slander the Belt and Road Initiative under the banner of infrastructure construction, advancing geopolitical calculations.
To stage the drama of "lip service but unrealistic" again?
Although the United States and the West have glorified the "Global Infrastructure Partnership" initiative as "returning investment for all", can it really be realized?
Analysts believe that it is afraid to repeat the mistakes of B3W and become an empty promise again.
On June 27, local time, U.S. President Joe Biden attended the G7 summit in Germany.
As soon as the initiative came out, it aroused many doubts, and foreign media poured cold water collectively, saying that the drama of "lip service but unrealistic" may be staged again.
To help developing countries develop infrastructure, it is natural to solve the problem of funding.
NPR questioned that it was unclear whether private equity funds would invest in these projects.
Analysts argue that private investment must confirm that it will pay off, but it remains an open question whether large U.S. dollars can be incentivized to invest in a country where markets are opaque and risky by Western standards to invest in a country with an unstable rule of law. .
The "Los Angeles Times" also believes that given the record level of inflation, the United States or other G7 countries are unlikely to commit to large amounts of money for the program.
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