Chinese President Xi and Russian President Putin dominate the G7

While the Russian president Vladimir Putin keeps the West in suspense regarding Ukraine, was the might of the Chinese president Xi Jinping the one that captured the long-term strategic attention in the meeting of diplomats of the Group of Seven Richest democracies in the world this weekend.

The United States and its other G7 allies are seeking a coherent response from Xi following China’s spectacular economic and military rise over the past 40 years.

Putin was the immediate tactical focus in talks in the English city of Liverpool between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts. President Joe Biden’s attempt to support Ukraine and deter Putin with a clear warning of severe economic sanctions was endorsed.

“There is a lot of convergence on what, unfortunately, will need to be done if Russia makes such a wrong decision,” said a senior US State Department official.

The West is concerned that Russia may be preparing an attack on Ukraine. The Kremlin denies it has plans to invade Ukraine, but has demanded legally binding security guarantees that NATO will not expand further east.

Concerns were raised about alleged Russian disinformation campaigns, but there was no clear agreement on, for example, whether to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Russia was included in what became the G8 in 1997, but was suspended in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea to Ukraine. Moscow says the G7 – the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – are making aggressive accusations.

If 69-year-old Putin was the short-term concern, Xi’s China was the strategic puzzle on everyone’s lips. There were “very, very intense discussions, especially about China,” said an official who attended the talks.

An “old club”?

China’s reappearance as the world’s leading power is considered one of the most important geopolitical events of recent times, along with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, which ended the Cold War.

In 1979, China had a smaller economy than Italy, but after opening up to foreign investment and introducing market reforms, it has become the second largest economy in the world and is a world leader in a number of new technologies.

Founded in 1975 as a forum for the wealthiest nations in the West to discuss crises like OPEC’s oil embargo, the G7 rebuked China and Russia after a summit in Cornwall in June.

China, which has never been a member of the G7, replied in June after that meeting that “small” groups no longer ruled the world.

“It is tremendous that so much attention is paid to the Indo-Pacific,” said a second State Department official. The first State Department official said the foreign ministers discussed the situation in Hong Kong, the Xinjiang region and the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait.

The need to support Lithuania was also discussed. China downgraded its diplomatic ties with the Baltic country and suspended consular services after the opening of the Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania on November 18.

“At this weekend’s meeting we made it clear that we are concerned about China’s coercive economic policies,” British Foreign Minister Liz Truss told reporters. The G7 wants to act jointly against Beijing, but without looking like an anti-Chinese club.