G20 leaders gathered in Brazil yesterday to discuss fighting poverty, boosting climate financing and other multilateral initiatives that could yet be upended by US president-elect Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House.
US President Joe Biden is to attend his last summit of the world’s leading economies, but as a lame duck whom other leaders are already looking beyond.
The main star of the show is expected to be Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who has cast himself as a global statesman and protector of free trade in the face of Trump’s “America first” agenda.
Photo: AP
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would be using his hosting duties to highlight his championing of Global South issues and the fight against climate change.
The summit venue is Rio de Janeiro’s stunning bayside museum of modern art.
Security is tight for the gathering, which comes days after a failed bomb attack on Brazil’s Supreme Court in Brasilia by a suspected far-right extremist, who killed himself in the process.
The summit would cap a farewell diplomatic tour by Biden which took him to Lima for a meeting of Asia-Pacific trading partners, and then to the Amazon in the first such visit for a sitting US president.
Biden, who has looked to burnish his legacy as time runs down on his presidency, has insisted his climate record would survive another Trump mandate.
The G20 meeting is happening at the same time as the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, which has stalled on the issue of greater climate finance for developing countries.
All eyes have turned to Rio for a breakthrough.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for G20 members, who account for 80 percent of global emissions, to show “leadership and compromise” to facilitate a deal.
A Brazilian diplomatic source said fast-developing nations like China were refusing pressure by rich countries to join them in funding global climate projects, but added that he was hopeful of progress at the summit.
Taiwan moved clear of Mexico to be the only country at No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Meanwhile, draft bills to set up a ministry of sports were approved at a joint session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. After previously being tied with Mexico for second on 4,118 points, Taiwan moved clear on 5,498 points after they defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 tournament on Sunday. Mexico (4,729) dropped to fourth, behind Venezuela (4,846), who finished fourth at the tournament. Taiwan narrowed the gap to first-placed Japan to 1,368 points from 1,638, WBSC
GLOBAL SUPPORT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the motion highlighted the improper exclusion of Taiwan from international discussion and cooperative mechanisms Taiwan yesterday thanked the British parliament for passing a motion stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan, making it the latest body to reject China’s interpretation of the resolution. The House of Commons on Thursday debated the international status of Taiwan and unanimously passed a pro-Taiwan motion stating that the House “notes that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the political status of Taiwan or establish PRC [People’s Republic of China] sovereignty over Taiwan and is silent both on the status of Taiwan in the UN and on Taiwanese participation in UN agencies.” British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Parliamentary
HIGH ALERT: The armed forces are watching for a potential military drill by China in response to the president’s trip, with the air force yesterday conducting an exercise President William Lai (賴清德) is to make stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during his seven-day trip to the South Pacific, his first official visit since taking office in May, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Lai, accompanied by a delegation, is scheduled to depart for the South Pacific on a chartered flight at 4:30pm tomorrow, stopping first in Hawaii for a two-night layover before traveling to the Marshall Islands, an office official said. After wrapping up his visits to the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the president is to transit through Guam, spending a night there before flying to Palau,
‘IMPORTANCE OF PEACE’: President Lai was welcomed by AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others President William Lai (賴清德) was feted with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas” as he began his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour. Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around the US island state, visiting the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and native Hawaiian culture, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, his office said, adding that it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such
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