The G7 anti-China façade shows cracks in Europe
BUDAPEST – The Group of Seven’s apparent united front against China at last month’s Hiroshima summit has given way to a new round of diplomacy with Beijing.
Chinese analysts draw a bright line between, on the one hand, the United States and Japan, which are committed to containing China, and, on the other hand, the leading European countries, which are open to economic incentives.
China’s number two official Li Qiang will visit Berlin and Paris later this month, attending a June 22 conference on support for poor countries (grandly titled “A new world financial pact”). The conference is the project of French President Macron; its significance lies in the fact China as of March exported more to the Global South than to the whole of the developed world.
In the short term, countries like France with longstanding interests in the Global South must find a modus vivendi with China. In the medium term, China’s enormous economic commitment to Africa – an estimated US$155 billion of investment during the last twenty years – represents Europe’s best hope of forestalling an uncontrollable wave of immigration from Africa.
En route to Paris, Premier Li will meet German Chancellor Gerhard Scholz in Berlin. The head of Scholz’s Social-Democratic Party, Lars Klingbeil, met Premier Li in Beijing this week.
Li declared that “Beijing stands ready to propel its strategic partnership with Berlin to new heights,” adding, “China attaches great importance to its relations and cooperation with Germany, and it is important for the two major influential countries to stay true to their original aspiration of cooperation, and strengthen dialogue and coordination to bring more stability and certainty into the world.”
