By Gu Siyu, He Zhuolun, Wang Zhongkui

From May 19 to May 21, the  G7 Summit 2023 was held in Hiroshima, Japan. While claiming to promote a "peaceful, stable and prosperous world", they threatened to take action against other countries in  such areas as geopolitics, security and economy on the pretext of the so-called rules-based international order. It seemed that G7 strived to seek international cooperation, but in reality it further incited conflict, exacerbated confrontation, and jeopardized the world situation in the name of peace.

Self-proclaimed boss, arrogant and bullying

In recent years, G7 has always been strongly opposed by peace-loving protesters wherever it was held. Over 200,000 people participated in protests during the 2001 Genoa summit, including a 23-year-old young man who was shot dead by police and run over twice by police cars. Outside the G7 summit in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, in 2022, slogans such as "Uphold Global Justice", " Protect  the Environment" and "No Arms Race" were eye-catching. On the eve of this summit, some Japanese people also gathered in Hiroshima several times, strongly opposing the G7 and pointing out that the summit was "a meeting in which the major powers of the member countries forced others to obey their own wills". However, the G7 ignored it and styled itself the guardian of world peace.

Looking back at history, the G7 was originally established at the initiative of France as an annual summit mechanism to coordinate national policies and revitalize economic development, in order to get out of the economic recession caused by the oil crisis in 1975. Today, the G7, which was born during the Cold War, seems to have inherited more of the "Cold War mentality" than the original intention of economic consultation. The G7 members still indulge in the illusion that they remain the leaders of the world, wantonly meddling in affairs in other regions.

But it is doubtful whether the G7 is qualified to lead the world. In terms of population, the total number of G7 countries is less than 800 million, accounting for merely one-tenth of the world's total population and lacking ethnic and cultural diversity. And the G7 members are mostly Western capitalist countries, with no representatives of emerging market countries and developing countries. In addition, the economic influence of the G7 has declined significantly in recent years. According to the French L'Express, the International Monetary Fund predicts that the share of the G7 in the global economy will drop to 30% by 2023 if calculated in terms of purchasing power parity. At the same time, their combined contribution to world economic growth is not as large as that of China.

Treacherous and duplicitous

In recent years, under the leadership of the U.S., G7 has intervened in international hotspot issues such as the North Korean nuclear issue and the Ukraine crisis, and is increasingly playing a leading role in manipulating the affairs of other countries. When the United States is unable to pass sanctions against countries in the UN Security Council, it often incites the G7 members to cobble together a network of unilateral sanctions to try to force countries like Russia to give in. When they feel that the G7 is not influential enough, they will temporarily invite some "Global South” countries as a cosmetic measure. They appear to value the collective rise of the South, but in reality, they have been trying to put some developing countries at their mercy. However, most of the developing countries are well clear about the conditions attached to the G7's "assistance" and "cooperation". Indonesian President Joko Widodo observed that Western sanctions against Russia are a wake-up call to other countries and that it would be wise to break away from dependence on the West.

Meanwhile, the G7 is by no means a group of solidarity and equality. The U.S. has never trusted its allies. The recent U.S. leak scandals exposed the fact that Washington has been closely monitoring other countries, including its military and economic allies, on sensitive issues. Other member states are not exactly aligned with the U.S. on issues such as the Ukraine crisis. The disagreement within the G7 is actually a sign of dissatisfaction with the endless hegemonic thinking of the U.S.

Two Summits, Different Solutions

The coincident China-Central Asia summit was a stark contrast to the G7 summit. The five Central Asian countries are rich in natural resources but lack of high-tech development and adequate market support, therefore their resource exploitation rate has always been low. China, as a regional major country and a developing country as well, has always upheld the attitude of win-win cooperation and innovatively proposed the Belt and Road Initiative and the vision of building a community of shared future for mankind. Taking into account the actual situation of the five Central Asian countries, China is willing to promote cooperation with them as an important pivot point of the BRI and move towards the fast track of win-win cooperation. It can be said that these two simultaneous summits reflect two completely different diplomatic philosophies.

Both external comparisons and internal contradictions show that the G7 approach is unpopular. There is no doubt that for the people of the world, it is far better to deepen win-win cooperation and promote regional development than to be involved in confrontation and division, and history will eventually reveal to us the ultimate downfall of the G7, which has been going against the world trend.