G7 becomes a bloc against China

The United States is going to call on allies to form a common economic bloc against China. President Biden will present his plans today, on day two of the G7 summit in Cornwall, UK, high-ranking US government officials have said. They spoke in the margins of the G7 summit on a background basis with the media present.

The group of seven major industrialized countries (United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) have met yesterday for a three-day summit. The agenda includes the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The EU is also participating in the summit and leaders from Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa have been invited as guests.

But for Biden, the summit is also the place to express his concerns about China. He wants the countries to speak out with one voice against the forced labour of Uyghur Muslims and other minorities that is taking place in China.

To compete with New Silk Road

In addition, he wants to raise hundreds of billions to offer an alternative to China’s New Silk Road. That’s a huge infrastructure project that China started in 2013, and that was set up to connect China to the other continents. In doing so, the country wants to stimulate trade with the rest of the world.

Biden hopes that the countries taking part in tomorrow’s summit will jointly issue a statement on China. Whether all countries will actually support the US remains to be seen.

The leaders of the EU countries discussed the relationship with China before the summit.

“The European position is clear: China is a systemic rival, a partner in global issues and a competitor,” French President Macron said in a statement.

The new president continues the harsh Chinese policy of his predecessor Trump. In February, Biden called president Xi on the eve of the Chinese New Year. He then touched on subjects such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and the oppression of the Uyghurs. Biden said he wanted to work with China if it would benefit the US.

And in March, diplomats from both countries blamed each other. For example, the US Secretary of State expressed his “deep concern” about China’s role in cyber attacks on the US and other issues that he believed threaten “global stability”. A top Chinese diplomat accused America of imposing “its own version of democracy”.