Former Minister Summers Concerns Xi Jinping’s Wide Diplomacy
South American countries united around China… China, close contact with the Middle East, ‘Isolation of the United States’
Macron and Lula even criticized the US… Blincoln, visiting Vietnam, etc. to contain China
“China builds an airport, but the US only provides lectures.”
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers (pictured) said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on the 14th, “The U.S. is getting lonely,” regarding China’s close relationship with the Middle East and Russia. It is said that developing countries are making this comparison with the US and China as China’s recent offensive to ‘make my side’ is getting stronger. “The United States is on the ‘right side’ of history, committed to democracy and resisting the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Summers said. But the United States is looking a little lonely as the less just countries are increasingly coming together.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently held a series of summits with major countries in Europe, South America and Africa, and expressed concern over the embarrassment that OPEC+, a consultative body of major oil-producing countries, has embarrassed the United States with’surprising production cuts’.
The Joe Biden administration’s public strategy is to isolate China from its core supply chain centered on advanced technology and grow an economy centered on allies that share democratic values. However, even France, a key country in the Western camp, is not letting go of economic cooperation with China, saying, “Europe is a third party in the US-China conflict.” South America and Africa, including Brazil, also appear to be strengthening solidarity with China.
President Xi visited Russia as a state guest on the 20th and 22nd of last month, right after the Two Sessions (National People’s Congress and National People’s Political Consultative Conference) ended in mid-March. Then, until the 16th of this month, summit meetings were held with Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, France, and Brazil. From the 18th to the 21st, Gabonese President Aliben Bongoondimba will pay a state visit to China.
After visiting China on the 5th and 7th, French President Emmanuel Macron met with President Xi twice and suggested that an independent diplomatic and economic strategy should be established, saying, “An alliance is different from a vassal state.” In addition, from the 12th to the 15th of this month, when finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 major countries gathered together in Washington, the capital of the United States, to attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank Spring Meeting, Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula Dasiouba paid a state visit to China. He made statements that directly challenged the United States, such as “Why should the dollar rule the world?” and “The United States should not incite a war in Ukraine.”
In particular, the close relationship between China, the Middle East and Russia is becoming a headache for the United States. The ‘surprise production cut’ by OPEC+, a consultative body of oil producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, is making the inflation war between the US and Europe difficult by raising oil prices. China is growing its influence by playing a mediator role in Iran and Saudi Arabia resuming diplomatic relations between the two countries after a seven-year hiatus.
Former Secretary Summers called it “a huge challenge for the United States” and commented that the United States’ global influence was declining. “Even on the UN stage, the close relationship between China and Russia and China’s growing influence over Africa and developing countries have narrowed the Western camp’s scope for maneuver in relation to the war in Ukraine and the North Korean nuclear issue,” said a UN official.
Analysts say that the recent US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which grants subsidies only to North American cars, has caused dissatisfaction from allies Korea, Japan, and European countries, as well as damaged diplomatic trust due to the leak of classified documents.
The US is stepping up to contain China by strengthening solidarity with developing and African countries. On the 15th, US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln visited Vietnam, which is geographically and economically close to China, for the first time after taking office, and met with leaders such as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin. Minister Blincoln said, “I hope to raise the relationship between the two countries to a higher level.”
In Africa, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield, First Lady Jill Biden, Minister Blincoln, and Vice President Kamala Harris visited one after another, and President Biden is also planning a visit within the year.
New York =
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.