BUENOS AIRES, Dec 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Fissures on trade, climate change
and Ukraine divided world leaders Friday as US President Donald Trump came
under sustained fire and Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler came in from the cold
at G20 talks.
The leaders of countries representing four-fifths of the global economy
opened a two-day meeting in Argentina facing the deepest fractures since the
first G20 summit convened 10 years ago in the throes of financial crisis.
Trump was attacked for destroying the group’s past unity on trade and
climate change. But he won a breakthrough with the signing of a new trade
pact for North America and, having ignited a trade war with China, touted
“good signs” ahead of a dinner Saturday with President Xi Jinping.
In remarks to the summit relayed by the Xinhua news agency, Xi reaffirmed
his pledges of economic reform “with increased efforts in intellectual
property rights protection and more imports.”
If that was designed to soothe Trump, Xi more generally urged his fellow
G20 leaders “to stick to openness” and to “steer (the) world economy
responsibly,” Xinhua reported.
The summit began in Buenos Aires with a traditional “family photo” by the
leaders of a group whose relationships range from warm and friendly to chilly
and distrustful.
Elsewhere in Buenos Aires, as Argentina goes through a painful economic
crisis, tens of thousands of protesters rallied peacefully to denounce the
government for spending millions on the summit while the public endures
rocketing inflation and unemployment.
They paraded with signs attacking Trump and the International Monetary
Fund, whose largesse is keeping Argentina afloat at the cost of hard-hitting
austerity measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, under pressure himself after his
security forces seized three Ukrainian ships, set the tone for a combative
two days by condemning the “vicious” use of sanctions and trade
protectionism.
The target was clear, as Trump — who canceled a planned meeting with
Putin in Buenos Aires — tears up the stability promoted by the G20 powers a
decade ago.
And during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin was said
by a French aide to have drawn a map of the strait off Crimea to buttress his
position that the Ukrainian ships had intruded into Russian waters — a claim
denied by Kiev.
– Long-lost friend –
Earlier, Putin grinned broadly and welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman like a long-lost friend with an enthusiastic hand-shake after the
group photo, where Trump looked on somberly and Xi stood impassively.
The summit marks a quick return to the international stage for Prince
Mohammed after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s
Istanbul consulate.
Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May both raised the murder of
Khashoggi during meetings with the 33-year-old prince.
May also told British media she intended to use the summit to sell the
vision of a “global Britain” after its Brexit departure from the European
Union, scheduled for March next year.
European Council President Donald Tusk was more focused on the Ukraine
crisis, saying he was “sure” the bloc would roll over its sanctions on Russia
next month.
On the G20 front, Tusk admitted the world was undergoing a “difficult
moment” overall, as Trump pursues a vision at odds with the idea of
collective action on trade and climate change.
– Progressive front –
US objections on those fronts have seen two major summits this year, of
the Group of Seven democracies and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum, end without the once-routine statements.
The same disputes were hobbling adoption of a G20 communique, observers
said. One French source said European leaders were trying to forge a separate
statement on climate change excluding the US.
Such a statement would endorse the Paris Agreement on climate change,
repeating one issued at last year’s G20 in defiance of Trump, who has yanked
the United States out of the pact despite increasingly urgent warnings from
scientists in advance of a UN climate meeting starting in Poland next week.
For Trump, there was no escape from the lengthening shadow of the US
investigation over Russian meddling in his 2016 election, which is now
reaching into his business affairs.
But on the G20 margins, Trump scored one victory for his “America First”
agenda with the signing of a successor to the North American free trade pact
NAFTA, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Although the new pact inherits key features from the old one, Trump has
declared it a victory for the US workers he claims were cheated by NAFTA and
on Friday called it the most “modern and balanced agreement in history.”
“This is a model agreement that changes the trade landscape forever,”
Trump said at the signing ceremony in Buenos Aires.
– ‘Nonsense’ –
The G20 summit is the biggest international gathering in Argentina’s
history, and the protest underlined security concerns after recent football
violence forced the relocation of a showpiece final to Spain.
But there was no significant unrest after the government vowed zero
tolerance and declared a public holiday, shuttering the metro system and
keeping the normally choked roads largely free of traffic.
“The summit seems a nonsense to me,” call center worker Agustina Vianello,
25, told AFP.
“We are in a bad situation, and we’re putting a pile of money into this?
Everything’s high security. It’s strange to see everything so empty.”