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US President Joe Biden went to the summit of the seven most developed and liberal democracies at a difficult time, when the war in Ukraine is showing no signs of moving towards an end, while China continues to have ambitions to extend its influence. in all the world.
The White House says it is committed to addressing these issues, with funds such as the $ 600 billion infrastructure package seen as a response to China’s “One Generation, One Road” infrastructure initiative, as reported by Austria’s Voice correspondent. of America in the White House, Anita Powell.
The liberal and richest democracies in the world have many issues to address as they meet in Germany for the G-7 summit.
The nearest challenge is less than 1,500 kilometers from the site of the meeting, where Kiev faced new attacks throughout the weekend.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Ukraine’s security was a top priority.
“Germany and the United States will always act together when it comes to Ukraine’s security issues, and we made that clear once again,” he said.
The group said yesterday it would continue to punish Russia’s aggression in Ukraine by increasing sanctions on Russian oil, goods, banks and well-known Russian officials and businessmen.
But in addition to this issue, leaders are also concerned about the challenges posed by China.
On Sunday, they announced a $ 600 billion infrastructure initiative, unveiled for the first time at the last G-7 summit, aimed at giving developing countries an alternative to China’s One Generation, One Road infrastructure initiative. .
“I want to be clear. This is not help or charity. It is an investment that will bring profits to everyone, including the American people and the people of all our countries. “It will help our economies and it is a chance for us to share our positive vision for the future, enabling communities around the world to see for themselves the concrete benefits of partnering with democracies.”
Analysts say the group of seven faces stiff competition from the Chinese “One Generation, One Road” initiative.
“Not only the United States and Europe, but also Japan and Australia are very concerned about this. Everyone is trying to offer alternatives to borrowing countries so that these countries do not need to seek help from China to get loans. The point is that these initiatives are slow, very bureaucratic, do not have that much money in the bank and can not compete with the fast money offered by the Chinese initiative. “And by offering these funds, China is gaining respect by making these countries dependent on it.”
The group of seven also invited the leaders of South Africa and India to some of the meetings held in the Bavarian Alps.
Representatives of these countries recently attended the virtual meeting of the BRICS group, the bloc of which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping criticized the efforts of Western democracies to isolate the Russian economy.
“If you politicize, use the world economy as a tool and weapon and impose sanctions, taking advantage of the dominant status in the international financial and monetary systems, it ends up harming your interests and those of others and causing suffering to people around the world,” he said.
The group also faces challenges affecting the world, such as climate change, pandemics and global economic problems.
The G7 meeting continues today./VOA
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