On Sunday, the G7 approved $600 billion for global infrastructure programmes in disadvantaged nations to fight with China’s formidable Belt and Road Initiative, according to AFP. The US government and partners will aim for $600 billion between now and 2027 ‘via grants, governmental finance, and leveraging private sector investments,’ according to the White House.
The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, unveiled with fanfare by US President Joe Biden and G7 allies from Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the European Union, aims to fill a huge gap left by communist China’s use of economic clout to extend diplomatic tentacles into the farthest reaches of the world. Biden stated that the US will provide $200 billion, with the rest of the G7 contributing another $400 billion by 2027.
Funding the types of infrastructure that China presently dominates, from roads to harbours in far-flung regions of the world, is neither ‘help or charity,’ according to Biden. Biden emphasised the geostrategic reasoning behind the initiative, saying such investments ‘provide rewards for everyone, including the American people and the people of all our nations’. According to AFP, European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen agreed, stating, ‘it is up to us to provide the globe a good, tremendous investment drive, to demonstrate our partners in the developing world that they have a choice’.
Unlike China’s state-run BRI plan, the proposed G7 funding would rely heavily on private enterprises’ willingness to commit to huge expenditures and so cannot be guaranteed. But, according to US authorities, this is a positive thing. According to US officials, in this capitalism vs communist scenario, recipient nations will be able to escape debt traps and other Chinese strongarm tactics.
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