China-US relations: Washington and Beijing set out competing visions of international cooperation at G20 meeting
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells the foreign ministers meeting that ‘effective and accountable’ international mechanisms are needed
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hits out at ‘high-sounding slogans’ and attacks Covid-19 vaccine ‘hoarding’
The United States has told the G20 foreign ministers that “effective and accountable” international institutions are needed as Beijing pointedly warned against empty calls for multilateralism and “vaccine hoarding” by richer countries.
Fresh off a week-long tour through Europe, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken drove home the message that the US had ditched the Trump-era approach, telling the Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Italy that a “strong multilateral system is essential” to tackle issues from the Covid-19 pandemic to climate security.
“We need to cooperate, and we need to do it effectively,” Blinken said on Tuesday. “Multilateralism is what makes that possible.”
He also highlighted the US contribution to the Covax Facility that provides vaccines to developing countries, and said the US had promised to donate 580 million doses.
Blinken’s trip to Europe included stops in Germany, France, Italy and the Vatican as part of a drive to shore up transatlantic ties, and to play up the importance of a more coordinated approach between the US and its European partners against the rise of a more aggressive China.