G20 Summit in China Clouded With Economic Uncertainties And Disputes Between Leaders

The G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, kicked off contrary to typical oriental hospitality, not to mention standard diplomatic protocols, presumably not against Beijing’s wishes.

Marred right at the outset by a rather uncalled-for gesture on the part of its host, China, the G20 Summit had U.S. President Barack Obama forced to step from Air Force One on Saturday, deprived of airplane stairs and red carpet accorded to a foreign dignitary, not least the head of a state, visiting a country.

But as William Ide of Voice of America had it, “It was just the beginning.”

“Tensions were also high on the tarmac where a Chinese official screamed at White House press photographers as they tried to get into position to take pictures of the president.” Ide added.

“A White House official tried to intervene stating that the U.S. would set the rules for where the photographers positioned themselves,” Ide went on to say, noting the Chinese official yelling back, “This is our country! This is our airport!”

Then there was National Security Adviser Susan Rice prevented by the same Chinese official from walking to the president’s motorcade. She would have missed the ride had not the U.S. Secret Service intervened.

These tensions that greeted the 2016 G20 Summit rather too early were later followed by some more tensions involving another Chinese official who put a limit on the number of journalists allowed to witness a late night stroll President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping had.

For his part, Obama responded with a gentlemanly, civilized manner typical of a westerner. When asked at a press conference the following day with British Prime Minister Theresa May, he said that he was not inclined to “over-crank the significance” of the string of tensions that greeted him at his arrival, noting that he has been used to it, whether in visiting China or other countries.

More serious than these, however, are the economic uncertainties G20 Summit delegates have been tasked to wrestle with, which, as Joe McDonald of The Associated Press aptly put it, include “pressure to raise trade barriers… amid sluggish global growth and disputes over China’s steel exports and Apple’s Irish tax bill.”

As McDonald noted, despite the fact that China “faces complaints as flood of low-cost steel exports are threatening U.S. and European jobs, fueling demands for trade curbs,” President Xi had the guts to call for G20 Summit leaders to “build an open world economy,” “avoid taking new protectionist measures,” and “take effective action to promote trade growth.”

The Chinese president also encouraged the G20 leaders to develop an innovative approach for spurring growth and reforms in global financial and economic management, cooperation in handling taxes and fighting corruptions, and for measures to “improve the ability of the world economy to resist risks,” in view of a longer-term economic initiative.

Representing his country known more for putting up trade barriers than tearing them down, Xi’s speech was greeted with apathy by some of the delegates.

Calling the G20 leaders to stand against China’s bloated steel industry, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker complained that it was “unacceptable” that the European steel industry had lost so many jobs in recent years because of this, BBC News reported.

“Overcapacity is a global problem, but there is a particular Chinese element,” Juncker stressed.

The world’s largest steel producer, China has pledged to reduce its production to between 100 and 150 million tons by 2020, as Xi himself reiterated in his G20 Summit opening remarks.

But as state-run China Daily hinted at, Beijing had no intention whatsoever to discuss the issue of overcapacity at the summit.

Notwithstanding the protest raised by the United States against Apple’s tax fine imposed by the European Union for allegedly benefiting too much from Irish tax breaks, Juncker said that “we are basing our decisions on facts and on the legislation.”

“This is not a decision against the United States of America,” he insisted, as quoted by BBC News.

While Obama offered no direct response to Juncker, he minced no words in reminding Xi of China’s legal obligations to comply with the United Nations’ Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling against its claims on the South China Sea issues, Reuters reported, alluding to a statement issued by the White House on Saturday following a one-on-one meeting between the heads of the world’s two largest economies.

“The president reaffirmed that the United States will work with all countries in the region to uphold the principles of international law, unimpeded lawful commerce, and freedom of navigation and overflight,” the White House statement said.

Other sensitive issues causing disputes between the two countries, such as human rights (including religious freedom), hacking and cyber security were also discussed in the meeting.

Obama also took his chance to have a 90-minute meeting with Russian President Valdimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzou, attempting to “force a breakthrough in negotiations over a cease-fire for Syria,” which, according to The Associated Press, did not materialize, with the two leaders agreeing instead “to keep looking for a path to provide humanitarian relief to thousands of besieged civilians in the civil war-ravaged country.”

[Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Images]