G8 leaders have failed to get emerging powers to agree to climate change goals for 2050 and conclusions from their summit will not directly refer to a sensitive debate about the domination of the dollar.
Draft documents seen yesterday ahead of the G8 summit and today’s meeting of the 17-nation Major Economies Forum showed the currency debate pushed by China being played down and that hopes for a climate breakthrough had been overstated.
Making no mention of Chinese and Russian interest in seeking a long-term alternative global reserve currency, a draft seen by reporters talked only of global “imbalances” — which G8 diplomats had said might be the only oblique reference to currency.
PHOTO: AFP
“Stable and sustainable long-term growth will require a smooth unwinding of the existing imbalances in current accounts,” it read.
China complains that dollar domination has exacerbated the global crisis and worries that the bill for US recovery poses an inflation risk for China’s dollar assets, an estimated 70 percent of its official currency reserves.
The G8 meet in in L’Aquila kicked off yesterday with the US, German, Japanese, French, British, Italian, Canadian and Russia leaders discussing the economic crisis.
The draft statement warned “significant risks remain to economic and financial stability.”
The G8 document cautioned that “exit strategies” from growth packages should only be unwound “once recovery is assured.”
G8 leaders badly underestimated the economic problems facing them when they met in Japan last year and yesterday’s talks will touch on what nations must do to prevent another such meltdown.
However, officials said few major initiatives were expected to emerge, with the broader G20 forum, grouping rich industrial nations and major emerging economies, tasked with formulating a regulatory response to the crisis rather than the G8 nations.
The G20 met in London in April and convenes again in September in the US.
“In reality [L’Aquila] is just an intermediary step,” a senior French official said.
US President Barack Obama was expected to make his mark on his first G8 summit by chairing talks of the MEF, whose members account for about 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
But talks among MEF ministers in Rome, called at the last minute on Tuesday to prepare for the summit, failed to close the gap between US and Europe on the one hand and emerging powers like China and India on the other hand.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spoke of meeting Chinese “resistance” and the G8 appeared to have failed to persuade China and India to agree to a goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“There is indeed a very strong commitment to identify the global goal for substantially reducing global emissions by 2050, but there is no 50 percent” mentioned in a draft declaration, an EU official said on condition of anonymity.
The first day of the L’Aquila summit was due to wrap up with talks on an array of international issues, including Iran’s post-election violence and nuclear program.
One area where officials said a breakthrough might be possible was trade. A draft communique suggested the G8 and “G5” developing nations would agree to conclude the stalled Doha round of trade talks in 2010. Leaders will also discuss a US proposal that rich nations commit US$15 billion over several years for agricultural development in poor countries to ensure food supplies.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS