US President Joe Biden plans virtual democracy summit viewed as challenge to China
- The gathering will focus on ‘defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights’
- The statement did not give details of those invited to the summit, which comes after the leaders of the G20 are due to meet at the end of October in Italy
Biden is seeking to bring together heads of state with major figures in philanthropy, civil society and the private sector “from a diverse group of the world’s democracies”, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.
The gathering will “galvanise commitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights”, it said.
A year later Biden plans to host the delegates once more – hopefully in person – to “showcase progress made against their commitments”.
The statement did not give details of those invited to the summit, which comes after the leaders of the G20 – whose composition is determined by economic weight and includes authoritarian regimes such as China and Saudi Arabia – are due to meet at the end of October in Italy.
The US invitation also goes beyond the restricted framework of the G7, a group of major Western democracies in which emerging countries are not represented.