PITTSBURGH: Friday s decision to make emerging powers such as China and India full players at the world s elite summits marks a new political era, but not all countries will be pleased.
The White House announced that the Group of 20 – borne last year of the turmoil of the global financial crisis – would henceforth become the pre-eminent forum for economic decisions.
The G20 leaders, who represent 90 percent of the world s Gross Domestic Product, were meeting in the eastern US city of Pittsburgh for their third summit aimed at restoring the global economy.
The new club would eclipse the Group of Eight representing only wealthy nations. It has held annual summits in various set-ups since 1975, when the Group of Six met at Rambouillet castle near Paris in the wake of the oil crisis.
The White House said the decision brings to the table the countries needed to build a stronger, more balanced global economy, reform the financial system, and lift the lives of the poorest.
The elevation of the G20 could meet demands by fast-growing emerging powers such as Brazil, China and India for a greater role in making economic decisions with global ramifications. China said it also was hopeful to gain greater voting rights at the International Monetary Fund.
The move could also temper controversial calls in some US quarters to set up a G2 of just the United States and China to tackle the issues of the day.
But the G8 has its passionate defenders – particularly Japan.
The world s second largest economy has relished its role as the only Asian nation in the G8, using the forum to showcase Japan as a responsible global power as attention drifts to neighboring China.
Japan has resented that China has blocked it from another prestigious club — the UN Security Council, where Tokyo has tried for years in vain to win a permanent seat.
Japan s new left-leaning Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who took office just last week, did not oppose the elevation of the G20 during talks here but hardly sounded enthusiastic.
At Thursday s G20 dinner hosted by Obama, Hatoyama said prior preparations will be required as there are a large number of countries, which will make it difficult to finalize opinions, according to a Japanese official.
Under such circumstances, talks could easily be led by bureaucrats. It should be leaders themselves who exercise leadership, said Hatoyama, who has also led a campaign at home to reduce the power of unelected officials.
But in Tokyo, Shinichi Nishikawa, a professor of politics at Meiji University, said that change was inevitable.
It s unrealistic to discuss any kind of global issue without China or India, he said. The move reflects an end to an era. Japan s presence may be waning, but it can t be helped.
Japan is not the only nation hesitant about the G20 format. Spain and the Netherlands have questioned why they do not have seats at the table, even if they are represented by the European Commission.
Taiwan, which by most measures is among the world s top 20 economies, has little chance of entering the G20 as China considers the island part of its territory.
But other nations welcome a greater role.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters that the G20 must remain an important body for strengthening the global economy into the future.
The G20 provides Australia with a voice in the decisions of the management of the global economy which directly affects us, Rudd said.
