Japan and the United States want to try to win over
countries, including those in the Global South, with promises of
foreign direct investment and aid, analysts say.
U.S. President Joe Biden last year was host of a U.S.-Africa
leaders summit in Washington, aiming to bolster alliances amid
the growing Chinese presence on that continent.
Japan followed suit, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
visiting Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique this month.
In a joint statement on Saturday, the G7 finance chiefs
stressed the urgency of addressing debt vulnerabilities in low-
and middle-income countries, mentioning Zambia, Ethiopia, Ghana
and Sri Lanka.
They did not mention China, but said foreign investments in
critical infrastructure "may pose risks for economic
sovereignty," and thus must "not undermine the economic
sovereignty of host countries."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in March that Beijing's
lending activities left developing countries "trapped in debt,"
adding that Washington was working to counter China's influence
in international institutions and in lending.
"There were talks about coercion" at the G7 finance leaders'
meeting, the Japanese finance ministry official said.
The G7 summit will most likely have a special session on
China to debate Beijing's "economic coercion" against other
countries, according to a Reuters report.
"No matter how the G7 want to fence in the Global South,
it's not easy," said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at the
Itochu Economic Research Institute. "These emerging economies
won't side with either the West or China, while carefully
weighing what will be in their best interests."
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
By Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - The weekend gathering of
finance chiefs from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies
did not single out China as a threat in their communique, but
left signs the world's second-largest economy will loom large at
this week's summit in Hiroshima.
Efforts to grapple with China's growing global presence were
evident at the three-day G7 finance chiefs' gathering in
Niigata, Japan, during which they held their first outreach in
14 years, aimed at winning over emerging nations.
The meeting with Brazil, the Comoros, India, Indonesia,
Singapore and South Korea primarily tackled issues such as debt
and high-level infrastructure investment, in a tacit counter to
China's Belt and Road initiative, analysts say.
"What's going on at the G7 is reflecting changes in global
order following the loss of the U.S. dominance," said Masamichi
Adachi, economist at UBS Securities. "No one is being able to
draw up a grand design with shifting of power."
G7 host Japan persuaded its G7 counterparts to launch a new
programme by the end of 2023 to diversify supply chains for
strategically important goods away from China. The G7 comprises
the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, Germany and
Canada.
But the finance chiefs' closing communique did not mention a
U.S.-proposed idea for narrow restrictions on investment to
China, a potential rift among the grouping on how far they
should go in pressuring Beijing.
A Japanese finance ministry official at the gathering, who
declined to be named because of he sensitivity of the matter,
said the idea was discussed in Niigata, but declined to
elaborate.
China is among the biggest markets for most G7 countries,
particularly for export-reliant economies such as Japan and
Germany. China-bound exports account for 22% of Japan's overall
shipments.
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