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LONDON – The main objective of President Biden’s European tour this week was to show that the United States is “back!” At the heart of the Western diplomatic consensus.
Unfortunately, the world is a little more complicated than that. By Saturday night in England, it looked as if the White House was confident of how far Biden’s magic would take it to persuade other G7 leaders to swallow all his political positions. Although it is not Donald Trump.
The president tried to persuade his colleagues to sign a joint statement calling directly on China for its forced labor practices in Xinjiang, where Beijing has targeted the Muslim Uyghur minority. It was not a huge success.
The White House itself has conceded a great deal with distinctive diplomatic language. “There’s a little bit of differentiation, I think I’d say, on the inside, I think, how hard they’re pushing on some of these issues,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters.
Reports from within the Chamber went further with claims that the two leaders were sharply divided over whether China should be explicitly recalled. According to a CNN report about the meeting, “the disagreements, which were broadcast during a session that at one point became so sensitive that all the Internet was closed to the room, pitted European countries against the United States, Britain and Canada.”
A senior White House official said Biden “was really leading the way…I would say prime minister [Boris] Johnson was very close behind him.”
It remains to be seen whether the old Anglo-Saxon alliance – backed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – will succeed in persuading the European unity of the mainland and Japan to agree to some sort of statement condemning China in a joint statement to be published on Sunday.
This type of negotiation often comes about well in advance of meetings between leaders, which are usually more than a photo opportunity.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised the alarm last week, warning Washington that Europe had not followed Biden’s apparent desire to “return to the [the logic] Cold War” with China as the new enemy of the West.
He insisted that Europe would maintain its independence when it came to building a relationship with China, with a policy “that China should not pursue and not be in line with the United States of America in this matter.”
Biden has been more successful in lobbying the idea of a new green version of the “New Silk Road” in China.
The Build Back Better World initiative is designed to provide developing countries with an alternative source of financing and loans for infrastructure projects, which China is currently providing.
Critics of China’s massive global investment – currently accessed by about 100 countries – claim that it trap developing countries in debt, giving them significant influence over local governments around the world.
The Trump administration has also talked about creating a Western alternative to this Chinese funding offer, but it has not offered real money. It’s too early to say whether the G7 version will be backed by some kind of investment to make it a real alternative to the trillions of dollars in China.
Haggling over the finer points was to continue on the beach in Cornwall on Saturday night while the leaders enjoyed roasted lobsters and hot buttered rum.
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