Don’t weaponise food, energy security, China’s Xi Jinping’s tells G20
- Xi says source of world’s current crisis is a ‘supply chain problem’
- Chinese president calls for the reversal of ‘tech-related sanctions’, asks wealthy nations to contain fallout from interest rate hikes
Chinese President Xi Jinping blamed the world’s food and energy crisis on politicisation and “disturbance on cooperation” as he faced calls from other Group of 20 nations to help stop Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In his opening remarks to the G20 summit in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Tuesday, Xi said food and energy security was the “most pressing challenge” the world faced today, and called for the reversal of “tech-related sanctions” to solve problems.
“Food and energy problems should not be politicised, utilised and weaponised. Unilateral sanctions and limitations related to tech cooperation should be dropped,” Xi said, according to the official transcript of his speech given in a closed-door session.
“We must contain global inflation and resolve systematic risks in the economy and finance,” Xi said.
“Developed economies should reduce the negative spillover effects of their monetary policy adjustments and stabilise debts at a sustainable level.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hung over Indonesia’s presidency of the G20 nations this year. Western sanctions on the Kremlin and the impact of the war on Ukraine have sent global food and energy prices soaring. China, which has built increasingly closer ties with Russia – also a G20 member – has been scrutinised by the West since the war began on February 24.
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Xi’s attendance at the summit, which included a series of face-to-face bilateral meetings with G20 counterparts, marked his second overseas trip to a multilateral conference since China’s strict Covid-19 measures were implemented in 2020. He was last abroad at the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Uzbekistan in September.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said after meeting Xi on Monday evening that they discussed the war in Ukraine and “reaffirmed our shared belief in the threat where the use of nuclear weapons is totally unacceptable”.
Biden has repeatedly warned China of “consequences” if it violates sanctions against Russia.
While the European Council president, Charles Michel, avoided direct criticism of China, he urged other global powers to intensify pressure on Russia over its war against Ukraine, and said the G20 summit was crucial in stopping Moscow’s push “to use food and energy as weapons”.
Beijing has not provided military support for Putin’s “special military operation”, but it has refused to condemn the invasion. Amid waves of US and EU sanctions and the Group of 7’s price cap on Russian oil, China has ramped up oil imports from Russia since the war began.
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Like China, India has also refrained from joining the Western sanctions against Moscow and has imported millions of barrels of discounted Russian oil.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke about the energy crisis during the G20 summit on Tuesday, said there should not be any restrictions on the supply of energy, and the stability of the energy market should be ensured.
