San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Biden presses for bolder front against China
CARBIS BAY, England — President Biden and his Group of 7 allies shifted their focus Saturday to an effort to unify the world’s leading democracies in a new undertaking aimed at reducing China’s growing global influence.
The centerpiece of the effort is a new investment program — or “infrastructure bank” — to mobilize billions in public and private resources to support major projects in developing countries as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The effort would mark the first major response by the United States and other G7 nations to the initiative begun by China in 2013, which has dramatically increased its influence around the globe as more than 60 smaller countries have signed on to projects or expressed interest in doing so.
“This is not about making countries choose between us and China,” said one senior Biden administration official, outlining the plan for reporters on condition of anonymity. “This is about offering an affirmative and positive vision that they would want to choose.”
Unlike the Belt and Road Initiative, which has been criticized for its opaque bidding processes and reliance on lowinterest loans that have put borrowing nations at the mercy of Chinese banks and contractors, the U.S.led initiative would aim to be “valuesdriven, transparent and sustainable,” the administration official said.
In addition to requiring that new infrastructure projects be as environmentally sustainable as possible, the venture would also forbid any use of forced labor.
Biden pushed his G7 counterparts to include a forceful condemnation of China’s use of forced labor in the final summit communique Sunday, the details of which are still being negotiated.
“We’re pushing for being specific on areas like Xinjiang where forced labor is taking place,” the official said, referring to the territory in northwestern China where tens of thousands of Uyghurs have been forcibly transferred from their homes and assigned to factories across nine provinces in a range of supply chains including electronics, textiles and automobiles.
“We think it’s critical to call out the use of forced labor,” the official said, “and to take concrete actions to ensure the global supply chains are free from forced labor.”
Biden also held a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the summit Saturday.
Macron, who like many of the leaders in the Group of 7 had a contentious relationship with former President Donald Trump, said before the meeting, “It’s great to have a U.S. president who’s part of the club and willing to cooperate.” As the two men sat outside in woven chairs at the edge of a broad beach, reporters asked Biden if he has convinced U.S. allies that America is back. He said, looking at Macron, “Ask him.”
Macron, on the spot, responded: “Definitely.”
Of all the G7 allies, Macron had been the most outspoken about wanting to establish more independence from
Washington. And European leaders on the whole have been somewhat reluctant to fully align themselves with America’s increasingly confrontational posture toward China. Given their closer economic ties to Beijing, they have been more eager to join forces behind the scenes to work on issues such as intellectual property protections and trade.
In joining Biden’s infrastructure initiative — even calling it “Build Back Better for the World,” adapting the slogan for the president’s domestic agenda — they would be making clear to the world they share his view that it’s imperative for democracies to unite to solve problems and potentially halt the rise of autocracies that have gained power in recent years.
After four difficult years of relations with the Trump administration, their responsiveness to Biden’s agenda also shows a desire for him to succeed.
On Friday, G7 leaders outlined a new effort to collectively contribute 1 billion doses of COVID19 vaccine to poorer nations. It was another demonstration, they said, of their commitment to come to the aid of other nations without the sort of conditions that are often attached to aid from larger autocracies, namely China and Russia.