Antony Blinken heads to Europe to shore up Western unity against China
- US Secretary of State will close trip with G20 meeting in Italy, potentially bringing him face to face with China counterpart
- US President Joe Biden has proposed an infrastructure plan by the G7 to rival China’s signature Belt and Road Initiative
Blinken left Washington late on Tuesday afternoon for Berlin, and will continue on to Paris and Rome, meeting the European Union’s two key power brokers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as Vatican leaders and taking part in talks on bringing peace to war-scarred Libya and defeating Islamic State.
The top US diplomat will close his trip with a June 29 meeting of the Group of 20 major economies, in the Italian city of Matera, potentially bringing him face to face with his counterpart from China – whose growing assertiveness abroad and at home has been identified by the Biden administration as the top US challenge.
Biden on his own trip had proposed a vast infrastructure plan by the Group of Seven (G7) industrial democracies to rival China’s signature Belt and Road Initiative and led a Nato summit to take up China more explicitly than ever before.
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“This trip is a continuation of the priority that President Biden has made of rebuilding our relationships with allies,” said Phil Reeker, the top US diplomat for Europe.