G20: Great power cooperation at the crossroads
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It should have been a great day for the G20 when it convened in Seoul last week. It was the first G20 Leaders Summit to be held in a non-western country. But the outcome fell far short of media expectations.
The G20 was the child of the global economic crash. With the global financial system facing imminent meltdown, China, along with countries representing more than 80 percent of world GDP, met in London to try to stop the world plunging into the abyss.
For China, the G20 provided a new forum for tackling economic, environmental and global development issues such as global currencies, protectionism, technology transfer and the changing relationships between emerging and developed economies. President Hu Jintao stressed that the great powers should go beyond verbal promises and act together to build mutual confidence and trust.
That the Seoul G20 meeting fell short of such hopes was due to the negative behavior of some of its members. The Obama administration spread the story of a currency war, and gave his cabinet members free rein to place the blame on China. It is hardly surprising that China refused to accept the United States' unilateral moves on global finance.
We understand why a weakened president, facing economic recession and angry voters, would take a tough line with America's global partners. But the purpose of the G20 is not to provide a forum for members to complain and make unreasonable demands. The world is looking to the G20 to provide leadership and develop cooperation. It does not need a platform for political brawling.
President Hu Jintao said before the conference that each G20 member should reflect on and improve its own pattern of development. There is little point in pointing out the flaws of others while ignoring structural problems at home. China is facing a tough battle against the threat of inflation and will stick to its policy of a managed floating exchange rate for the RMB, but that does not imply acceptance of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing. The fundamental problem facing the US economy is how to revive its industrial capacity. This will not be achieved by printing greenbacks that will flood into developing countries and provoke a genuine currency war.
The Seoul G20 fell far short of its ambition of agreeing a unified approach to solving the problems of the world economy. China is being asked to take responsibility for reviving the world economy while being unreasonably blamed for the crisis. The wellbeing of the world requires solid cooperation, not the issuing of blank checks. China has already made a substantial contribution; what about America?
Dr. Jia Min is a research fellow with Journalism School of Fudan University.
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