The US would not send high-level officials to attend China’s second Belt and Road summit in Beijing this month, a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, citing concerns about financing practices for the project.
Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) on Saturday last week said that almost 40 foreign leaders would take part in the summit due to be held in Beijing.
He rejected criticisms of the project as “prejudiced.”
The first summit for the project, which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with massive infrastructure spending, was held in 2017 and was attended by US National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Matt Pottinger.
There are no such plans now.
“We will not send high-level officials from the United States,” the spokesperson said in answer to a question from reporters.
“We will continue to raise concerns about opaque financing practices, poor governance, and disregard for internationally accepted norms and standards, which undermine many of the standards and principles that we rely upon to promote sustainable, inclusive development, and to maintain stability and a rules-based order,” they said.
“We have repeatedly called on China to address these concerns,” the official added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) Belt and Road Initiative has proven controversial in many Western capitals, particularly Washington, which views it as a means to spread Chinese influence abroad and saddle countries with unsustainable debt through non-transparent projects.
On Saturday, Yang called the criticisms “prejudiced,” saying that China has never forced debt upon participants and the project was to promote joint development.
He did not name the 40 leaders he said would attend, but some of China’s closest allies have already confirmed they would be there, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The US has been particularly critical of Italy’s decision during a visit by Xi to Rome last month to sign up to the plan this month, the first for a G7 nation.
Washington sees China as major strategic rival and the administration of US President Donald Trump has engaged Beijing in a tit-for-tat tariff dispute.
The world’s two biggest economies have levied tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of bilateral trade since July last year, raising costs, disrupting supply chains and roiling global markets.
US National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on Tuesday said that the countries “expect to make more headway” in trade talks this week, while the top US business lobbying group said differences over an enforcement mechanism and the removal of US tariffs were still obstacles to a deal.
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