US President Joe Biden has proposed to G7 leaders to keep a check on China, which is increasing its dominance by investing in developing countries.
The proposal received support from Canada, the UK and France. However, Germany, Italy and the EU were not so keen on Biden’s proposal.
It is aimed to compete with the “Belt and Road Initiative” of China, a trillion-dollar initiative that has started a network of shipping projects and lanes around major sections of the world, mainly Asia and Africa. Critics claim that Chinese investments often incur large amounts of debt and subject nations to Beijing’s improper control.
The G7 countries have in principle decided to invest in infrastructure in developing countries in the name of Build Back Better for the World to compete with the Belt Road Initiative undertaken by China.
Allies disagree with the US tough stance on China. But the United States hopes to send a message to China from this conference anyway. However, they were looking for clarity on how Beijing might strongly call for human rights violations.
China’s forced labour abuses are part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to get fellow democratic countries to present an economically more cohesive front with Beijing. However, while they agreed to compete against China, the group’s opposition to a public position was less consistent.
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Biden expects that this condemnation will be part of a united declaration from the G7 countries that will be made public on Sunday when the summit is ended, but certain European partners are reluctant to divide Beijing so strongly.
Officials of the White House said Biden wanted to speak out against forced labour abuses targeting Chinese Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in one strong voice together with the G-7 nations — the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.
Officials from Biden’s administration perceive a chance to take practical measures to protest China’s dependence on forced labour as the “infringement of human dignity.”
Sources said that there was no immediate consensus on exposing or penalising China for human rights abuses.
but one of the senior administration officials said the measure would convey a message that the leaders were serious about protecting human rights and working together to prevent the practice of forced labour.
According to academics, an estimated 1 million people or more, mostly Uyghurs, have been imprisoned in reduction camps in China’s western Xinjiang province in recent years.
Authorities in China have been accused of enforcing forced labour, systematic coercive birth control, torture, and separating children from jailed parents. Beijing denies claims of criminal activity.
The French president Emmanuel Macron reminded Biden that coordination was necessary for a variety of areas and informed the American President that “it is excellent to have a U.S. president in the club who is extremely willing to cooperate.”
China became one of its most persuasive subtleties since 2019, in the developed nation’s conference. The summit was cancelled last year due to COVID19 and this year’s pandemic recovery dominates the discussions among the leaders. The G7 nations have also anticipated sharing at least one billion vaccination with countries that are in a dire situation.
