(From L to R, Front) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, (From L to R, Rear) European Council President Charles Michel, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stand for a family photo during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, Britain, on June 11, 2021. (Andrew Parsons/No 10 Downing Street/Handout via Xinhua)
Leaders around the world, even from Western countries, should know that China is a reality, and realize that when it comes to tackling global challenges, the role of China is critical, said a Pakistani expert.
by Raheela Nazir
ISLAMABAD, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of Group of Seven (G7) need to build cooperation rather than rivalries with China to address the multi-pronged challenges facing the world, a Pakistani expert has said.
"If the club of wealthy developed economies is really interested in securing a better future for the world, they have to abandon the anti-China rhetoric and mentality of Cold War," Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, director of the China Study Center at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, an Islamabad-based think-tank, told Xinhua on Monday.
Although the group during the recently concluded summit has made several pledges concerning the pandemic containment and COVID-19 vaccines, climate change, and economic initiatives for improving infrastructure in the developing world, the political economist said that the promises just sound like hollow words without actions, especially considering the group's gloomy track record.
Workers unload anti-epidemic material supplies donated by the Chinese government from a Chinese cargo plane at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos, May 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianhua)
"They had previously pledged 100 billion U.S. dollars (per year) during the Paris Agreement to counter challenges posed by climate change, but they never fulfilled their commitment," Ramay said. "Similarly, during the pandemic, when China was extending its help to other countries, especially developing countries, so-called responsible rich countries had adopted 'ourselves first' approach."
It is unfortunate that the whole agenda of the G7 meeting focused on how to continue their influence over the world to satisfy their incurable addiction to hegemony instead of finding ways to address global issues, Ramay sighed.
"The Western countries, especially the G7 countries have created their hegemony through colonization in the past ... When it became impossible to continue with the colonization after World War II, they adopted new tools to control the global economy and capture international financial markets by erecting new institutions," he said.
Aerial photo shows a container vessel sailing into Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin Municipality, Feb. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)
"Under such circumstances, when China emerged as an alternative to the world as it was offering more fair and just deals and solutions to global challenges with an idea of a community with a shared future (for mankind), it does not go well with the hegemonic attitude of the few privileged countries, and they started doing everything to counter China," Ramay said.
If G7 countries are really sincere in solving the most pressing global issues, they should let go of their Cold-War mentality and promote healthy competition rather than igniting conflicts and creating differences among members of the international community, he said.
Talking about the Build Back Better World plan, which was adopted at the summit to help lower- and middle-income countries improve infrastructure, Ramay said that the plan is merely pomp and show, and largely flawed.
"They even did not mention how it would work and where the money would come from," he said.
Ramay believes that leaders around the world, even from Western countries, should know that China is a reality, and realize that when it comes to tackling global challenges, the role of China is critical. ■
