Wednesday | 15 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Wednesday | 15 January 2025 | Epaper

G20 Summit 2016

It's for world economy or encircling China?

Published : Sunday, 11 September, 2016 at 12:00 AM  Count : 382
Haradhan Ganguly

" src=


" src=

G20 summit proves western world is still concerted behind US hegemony to serve her geo-political interest. Hangzhou meeting has become so much sensitive about Asia leaving aside the global economy that is still facing multiple risks and challenges including a lack of growth momentum and consumption, turbulent financial markets, receding global trade and investment. We were hoping the Hangzhou summit would come up with a prescription for the world economy and lead it back to the road of strong, balanced, comprehensive and sustainable growth, but to our utter dismay we could feel the headache of western rich countries about the benefits China enjoyed from globalization enormously over the past 25 years. Rather we saw G20 members ventured a united front in their efforts to spur global growth while deflecting criticism of structural imbalances in their own economies, that was being blamed for. Rather they blame China among other things, for steel mill closures and job losses around the world. Beijing has also scrambled to assure international investors, the world's second largest economy that she is on a stable footing.
What we see immediately after the summit is Obama's shuttle diplomacy with Laos and Vietnam to strengthen anti-China ambiance that indicates Asia is getting more prominence to G20 since it commensurate with US interest. The communist governed Laos, with a population of less than 7 million, springs to life when global leaders arrived for an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Viena. US President Obama was among them, making a last push of his presidency to rebalance Washington's foreign policy towards Asia, a strategy widely seen as a response to China's economic and military missile flexing across the region.
After a change of government, the new leaders of Laos appear ready to tilt away from Beijing and lean more closely towards another neighbour Vietnam whose dispute with China over the South China Sea has pushed into a deepening alliance with the US. Mr Obama was the first sitting US president to visit landlocked Laos where the US once waged a "secret war" while fighting in Vietnam, dropping an estimated 2.0m tonnes of bombs on the country.
Laos is strategically important to both Vietnam and China. Vietnam has a long land border with Laos that gives it access to markets in Thailand and beyond. For China, Laos is a key gateway to Southeast Asia in its new silk road trade strategy. Laos which is developing a series of Hydropower plants along one of the world's longest river the Mekong, aims to become "the battery of Asia" by selling power to its neighbours. Obama's last visit to Laos and Vietnam as president was aimed at "rebalancing Asia and the Pacific" meant for waging a front against China and invigorating it. Like in South Asia, US wants Bangladesh and India to be allied with against China. Recently inked pact with India by Kerry and his opposite partner also was done for the same purpose."Rebalance Asia strategy" was the prime object of US and she wished to materialize it by ongoing commitment to G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation.
Even Mr Xi and Mr Obama while reached a  surprisingly ambitions global climate agreement in their last meeting on Chinese soil two years ago, the US president also overseen a military and diplomatic pivot to Asia and many suspect was aimed at curbing China's rise. But in recent G20 summit US and China ratified the Paris climate accord, a crucial step towards bringing into force the pact against global warming is a welcoming achievement.
G20 brings together representatives of 85 percent of the world's GDP and two-thirds of its population. UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who personally received the ratification documents from Xi and Obama, applauded them for making this historic step and urged other G20 leaders to follow the suit. As per media, there had been hopes for another breakthrough, on the long war in Syria, after the US said it was close to a deal with Russia on stemming the violence. But negotiations between secretary of state John Kerry and his counterpart Sergei Lavrov yielded only an agreement to convene again with Russia accused of "walking back" on key issues. Moscow and Washington support opposite sides in the conflict, which erupted in March 2011 after President Bashar-al-Assad unleashed a brutal crackdown against a pro-democracy revolt. Successive rounds of international negotiations have failed to end a conflict that has left more than 290,000 people dead and forced millions to flee, a key contributor to migrant flows into Europe. But G20 summit was far off addressing this. EU President Donald Tusk said Europe was close to limits on its ability to accept new waves of refugees and urged the broader international community to shoulder its share of the burden. AFP points it that the issue has become a political hot potato for European leaders as Islamist terror attacks and rising anti-globalization sentiment fuel public resentment of immigration.
The summit is being held in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, which leaves it with the task of renegotiating access to the markets of the rest of the world, including those of the group, it is leaving. But Indian noted fortnightly magazine " Front line" quoted European commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker as saying, he opposes such talks while Britain remains part of the EU, insisting they were an " exclusive matter" for the bloc on behalf of its members and "we are sticking to it".
In such a way, summit Hangzhou could create a little wave on world economy. It failed to come up with a new road map and ongoing ridden world political problems were chewed only. It was only a ritual summit and the west is mainly waiting for US election. But will it bring in change in US stance to Asia particularly South East and South Asia?r
Haradhan Ganguly is a freelance
contributor, and secretary, United Nations Association of Bangladesh.
Email: gharadhan@gmail.com






LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Fast food hazards
The celebrations of 31st night
Can Britain's monarchy survive without the queen?
Science and technology in 2017: Some predictions
Calibrating blood pressure monitors
Lifting eGovernment to globalise Bangladesh's public administration
Yahya would grant freedom to Bangladesh in March 1972?
Bangla Academy must not be Big Brother
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: district@dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝
close