There were two important meetings on February 19 – the G-7 summit and the Munich Security Conference. U.S. President Joe Biden offered a big gift and said he would not engage in a confrontational Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party, and the countries agreed to curb the “non-market behavior” of the Chinese Communist Party.
The seven-nation conference was also attended by the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.
In a video message, Biden declared that the era of Trump‘s “America First” is over.
Biden went on to pledge $4 billion in funding for global vaccinations, the U.S. will rejoin the Paris climate agreement, and he said the upcoming $1.9 trillion stimulus package will help the U.S. and world economies recover.
Biden also rallied democracies and European allies to work together to address the Russian-Chinese challenge and curb China’s (Chinese Communist Party) “egregious economic behavior and policies.
After the meeting, the G-7 said it would work to negotiate a collective solution to build a multilateral trading system. “To support a global economic system that is fair and mutually beneficial for all, we will engage with other countries, especially G20 countries including large economies like China.” “To work together to build a modern, freer, fairer, rules-based multilateral trading system that reflects our values and delivers balanced growth, with a reformed World Trade Organization at its center; and, to strive for a consensus solution on international taxation within the framework of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) by mid-2021. “
The G7 also said it will deepen cooperation on health issues in response to COVID-19 and explore a global health treaty. “We will: advocate for open economies and societies; promote global economic resilience; and harness a digital economy with the free flow of data and trust.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to donate most of the U.K.’s surplus vaccine supply to poor countries. And he urged rich countries to support the 100-day goal to develop new vaccines for emerging diseases of the future.
The G-7 has an economic clout of $40 trillion, slightly less than half of the global economy.
Biden calls China, Russia rivals at Munich security conference
Biden also attended the Munich Security Conference held at the network that was attended by major world leaders that day.
“I send a clear message to the world: the United States is back. The transatlantic alliance is back. And we’re not looking backward; we’re looking forward together,” Biden said.
He highlighted the importance of the transatlantic alliance relationship and said the United States is fully committed to the NATO alliance and has ordered a halt to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany and will also lift the previous administration’s limit on the number of U.S. troops stationed in Germany.
Biden suggested that the world is at a historical inflection point in the game between democracy and dictatorship, but is convinced that democracy will win. Democracies must unite to meet the threat of Russian and Chinese competitors, covering transnational challenges such as nuclear proliferation, climate change and cybersecurity.
Must work together to deal with competition with the CCP but not confrontation or cold war
On China (the Chinese Communist Party), Biden made clear that he does not seek confrontation or a cold war, but that he anticipates intense competition and welcomes it.
“You know, we have to work together to prepare for long-term strategic competition with China (the Chinese Communist Party). How the United States, Europe and Asia work together to ensure peace, defend our shared values and promote our prosperity throughout the Pacific will be one of the most important efforts of consequence that we embark on,” he said.
Biden noted that the United States and its allies can win this competition, but must protect the space for innovation and intellectual property and ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly. In addition, it must resist the economic abuses and coercion adopted by the Chinese Communist Party that have weakened the foundations of the international economic system, require Chinese companies to adhere to the same standards of corporate governance and rules to curb corruption and monopolistic practices, and also take a leading role in rulemaking in the technology sector as well as in cyberspace.
“We must make rules to govern advances in technology and norms of behavior in cyberspace, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology so that they are used to uplift people, not to suppress them. We have to stand up for the democratic values that make all of this possible for us and top back those who want to monopolize and normalize oppression,” he said.
The U.S. leader said this is also the way the West is responding to the threat from Russia. But he stressed that it is not about plunging East and West into confrontation or returning to the Cold War.
“Competition must not get in the way of cooperation on issues that affect us all. For example, if we are to defeat the New Coronavirus everywhere, we must work together,” he said.
U.S. Officially Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement
Secretary of State John Blinken issued an official statement Feb. 19 on rejoining the Paris climate agreement.
The statement reads, “As of today, the United States is once again officially a member of this agreement… The goal of the agreement is both simple and broad: to help us all avoid a planetary warming catastrophe and increase the world’s resilience to the impacts of climate change we are already seeing… You have seen, and will continue to see, that we incorporate the topic of climate change into our most important bilateral and multilateral dialogues at all levels.”
Former President Trump announced his withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement on June 1, 2017, but it does not take effect until 2020. Trump said the agreement greatly hurts the United States and its businesses, labor, people, and taxpayers. According to a study by the National Economic Research Association, the Paris agreement will cost the U.S. gross national product (GDP) $3 trillion by 2040 as well as 6.5 million lost jobs in industry.
Under the agreement, developed countries are to provide about $100 billion a year in aid money to developing countries through 2025 to help improve the energy mix and industrialization technologies. And of the more than 100 signatories, the U.S. is picking up 75 percent of the cost of about $75 billion a year. Trump believes this is unfair and places a heavy economic burden on the United States.
Another reason for Trump is that the agreement has different requirements for countries to reduce emissions, which will cause the United States to lose competitiveness.
For example, the U.S. wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% by 2025 compared to 2005 emissions, which is equivalent to reducing emissions by about 1.6 billion tons per year. China, the largest polluter, is not bound to reduce its emissions until 2030.
The U.S. will have to hurt the coal and oil industries to meet its emissions reduction targets. This will obviously have a negative impact on normal economic activity in the United States.
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