OSAKA, KOMPAS — World leaders attending the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, which began on Friday (21/6/2019), emphasized the importance of foundational values in international cooperation, such as multilateralism, amid the rising tide of unilateralism and protectionism that is putting in jeopardy global economic growth.
“A free and open economy is the basis for peace and prosperity,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in front of the G-20 leaders.
Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was among the summit’s attendees, alongside US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian PM Narendra Modi.
Putin, Xi and Narendra also brought up multilateralism in their talk on the sidelines of the summit. They agreed on the importance of practicing restraint and respecting international law and national sovereignty.
Putin said Russia, China and India firmly rejected protectionism, unilateralism and illegal sanctions in a statement seen as a rebuff to Trump’s “America First” slogan, which was in itself deemed as a response to China’s and Russia’s growing clout.
Regarding their trade war, Trump said he hoped his meeting with Xi on Saturday would be productive, but he did not make any promises regarding a postponement of further tariffs on Chinese goods. All of Washington’s decisions would be based on the results of the Trump-Xi meeting.
Chinese Deputy Premier Liu He met with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer at the hotel where the US delegation was staying.
Difficulties
It is difficult to find the middle ground to reduce trade war tension between the US and China. At the summit’s first session, all parties stood firmly on their respective positions. In a press statement delivered at the summit, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the Sino-American trade war was certain to be one of the hot issues at the Osaka summit. Despite being bilateral in nature, it affected the global economy.
Sri Mulyani said differing perspectives persisted between G-20 leaders, especially between Trump and other leaders. She said Trump had mentioned the presence of predatory countries that unilaterally profited from the US economy.
“This shows that, in President Trump’s concept, there are countries engaging in practices that harm the US. Therefore, President Trump asked [other world leaders] to eliminate such distortions in order to establish collective welfare,” she continued.
On the other hand, she said, President Xi Jinping maintained that the current global trade tensions were triggered by a certain country’s deliberate actions. Therefore, win-win solutions were highly dependent on that country’s willingness to find such solutions. “All eyes are on the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi [on Saturday],” Sri Mulyani said.
The G-20 leaders in Osaka also called for a reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to achieve fair trade and sustainable economic growth. (AP/AFP/REUTERS/BEN)