China can use G8 talks to reach out to others

President Hu Jintao will attend the dialogue between G8 and developing nations on July 9 at Lake Toya in Hokkaido, Japan. The dialogue, which was launched in 2000, took a step forward in 2003 when China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico joined the talks and has been growing into a mechanism in recent years.

Taking part in the upcoming 2008 dialogue are not only the five developing countries mentioned above but also heads of state from Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania as well as the president of the African Union. And, because Japan has invited state leaders of Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Indonesia, the meeting has now been called a dialogue between G8 and "nations concerned" instead of "developing countries".

This is an important meeting held at an extraordinary moment. Right now the problem of global warming and greenhouse gas reduction remains hot, international food prices are still high, oil futures price keeps rising as a result of speculation with "hot money". Many developing nations are suffering from heavy inflation while the world economic growth is slowing down. The Iran nuclear crisis is anything but easing as the counter-terrorism situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is getting tense again.

So many issues of global significance and regional thorny problems await resolution while the world is rocked by a multitude of conflicts, which are making the international situation more complicated and daunting by the day and require concerted efforts by the world community to resolve. The dialogue will be focused on these issues.

The G8 will lead the dialogue, which is an important experiment in broadening its international appeal as well as reorienting and repositioning itself, with the ultimate goal set at improving its ability to deal with the changing international situation that is becoming more complicated everyday and preventing its leading position in the world from falling down.

Whether the G8 likes it or not, a sense of equality has been growing noticeably in the dialogue in recent years as the influence of developing nations and especially of the emerging economies increases while developed countries find themselves in need of help from developing nations more than ever.

Today the dialogue as a key international platform can help enhance communication, exchanges and cooperation between developed and developing countries and facilitate discussions by the international community of regional problems as well as global issues to jointly advance world peace, stability and development.

However, the "host nation brand" on the dialogue has always been quite prominent. For instance, the 2003 meeting in Evian, France, reflected the country's multi-polar thinking, the 2004 talks in the US were turned into an anti-terrorism gathering and Germany made climate change a key topic when it hosted the 2007 dialogue.

The "Japanese characteristic" of this year's meeting at Lake Toya is even more striking with the host's two main intents: paving the way for its attempt to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council and seizing the steering wheel of establishing world environment order. Japan has already held a related meeting of G8 and some developing nations as a warm-up session for the upcoming G8 Summit and its dialogue with developing countries.

China has been playing a unique and important role since its debut at the 2003 dialogue in Evian, France, as the heated debate over whether G8 should become G9 by dragging China into its fold continued. This reflects the reality of China's growing international clout and G8's increasing need for China's help. And for China the dialogue has become an important platform for making its views on international affairs widely known, performing its obligations to the international community and confirming its global presence.

It was on this platform President Hu Jintao first introduced China's "new outlook on energy" at the 2006 dialogue in St Petersburg, Russia; and he fully explained China's initiatives, policies and practice concerning global climate change and energy conservation in Heiligendamm, Germany.

This time around President Hu is expected to present at the dialogue meeting China's philosophy, initiatives, policies and practice on world macro-economic policies, international financial stability, global warming and energy conservation, security of energy resources, food security, international cooperation in disaster reduction and relief work and Africa's development.

All this reflects not only China's original intention in promoting the establishment of a harmonious world community but a proactive and concrete action in advancing the process as well.

Meanwhile, China will gear up bilateral talks with developed countries at the upcoming dialogue. President Hu has already made an appointment with US president George W Bush for a meeting on the side of the dialogue to exchange views on international issues as well as bilateral ties.

More important is that the platform has provided an opportunity for China to increase communications, exchange, coordination and cooperation with countries other than the seven Western powers.

So far China has established not only regular ministerial meetings but also held a summit and the first foreign ministers' talks with African nations. Chinese, Russian and Indian foreign ministers have held three meetings. The three countries and Brazil are scheduled to have a foreign ministers' meeting later this year. And China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico exchanged notes before the dialogue with G8 in Germany last year.

It would not only help China strengthen its ties with other developing countries but also enhance the efficiency of its dialogue with G8 and ultimately enable the mechanism that is the G8-developing nations dialogue to make greater contributions to resolving global issues and improving world stability. China can do so by starting or continuing the above-mentioned talks, communications and coordination efforts and works on the establishment of a "2+3+4+5" system, which stands for dialogue between China and Africa, between China, Russia and India, between China, Russia, India and Brazil, and between China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico.

This again reflects China's original intention in promoting the establishment of a harmonious world community and its proactive and concrete move to advance the process.

The author is a researcher and director of the Center for Strategic Studies, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations

(China Daily 07/04/2008 page8)